Flaky Flips Out
by XxBloodsbanexX
Summary: Flaky is thrown into a radioactive lake, and a part of her that she tried to keep hidden finds a way out. Will Flippy be able to set things right, overcoming his own battles along the way? Epilogue is finished!
1. Preface

**Preface**

**Truths and Faults **

It had been an accident. It was as simple as that. It wasn't her fault that she had gone down the wrong road. It hadn't been her fault that the dark rain kept her from noticing that the sign that red 'road blockage' had been knocked down and left to rot in the churning mud and water. And it definitely hadn't been her fault that there had been a dead body in the road, and that in her shock she had jerked her car to a stop, or that the force from the stop had caused her mane of hair-like quills to get stuck in the driver's seat material

None of it had been her fault. No. It had all been _their_ fault.

Petunia and Giggles had been the ones to build the fence that had cut off the correct road – only God knows why. Toothy and Handy had been the ones to mess around with the stupid axes and cut down the sign, blinded by their own spree of ax filled excitement. Splendid had been the one to attempt and fail at CPR, killing Cuddles and leaving his corps in the middle of the road to startle her.

Oh, it also hadn't been her fault that The Mole had been peeling the skins off of apples an hour earlier, cutting himself. It hadn't been her fault that at that very moment Flippy had decided to stroll past the window of the Mole's home, and see the finger as it fell off of the Mole's hand. It wasn't her fault that Flippy had mental problems and flipped out, turning into Evil Flippy, the war stained homicidal maniac.

It had been a complete and utter coincidence that Nutty and Lumpy were working at the plant that day (Everyone always seemed to be switching jobs) and that they had 'misplaced' nine tons of radioactive waste in a lake just along the border of Happy Tree Valley. A lake that, it just so happened, was lying at the end of an incline on which the road Flaky was stranded on resided.

But maybe, in a way, it _had _been Flaky's fault. The outcome might never had happened if she had ever learned to control her raging fear. At the sight of a flipped-out Flippy, she couldn't hold the scream that erupted from her stomach. If she hadn't let out that scream, he might have continued on to brutally murder another Happy Tree Friend. But Flippy heard and the grin that followed let Flaky know that she was as good as dead.

He came over calmly, taking his time as the pounding rain darkened his green fur. Flippy's blazing emerald eyes shone like dragon scales and fire. The army bear's sharp teeth shone in the light of the radiation waste, turning them a sickly green as the bear grabbed onto the side of Flaky's car. With a single great heave, he lifted the car and upturned it, sending it and Flaky downwards toward the contaminated lake.

The car tumbled. The wheels exploded from sharp rocks, the roof was crushed inward, nearly crushing Flaky right then. The flying car got caught against a tree that grew on the incline. The car stopped, but Flaky was ripped from the seat and thrown out of the car window. Shards of glass got caught in her face, and the holes where quills had been were now spilling blood. Flaky let out another scream as she tumbled downwards.

But at the same time, all sorts of accusing thoughts entered her mind. Adrenalin filled her, temporarily masking the pain and allowed her to dwell on these new thoughts.

It never _was_ her fault, was it? All of the death, the accidents, the _pain_ - it was all _their _doing. She hadn't done anything do deserve such treatment. The only thing Flaky was guilty of was getting lost in this wide, scary world and wondering into Happy Tree Valley. That was all. And in a way, she had damned herself.

Flaky could just leave – any of the Happy Tree Friends could. But in a way the curse they all lived under was also a blessing. To die and to come back, no matter how painful was always better than permanent death. To all creatures, death was something to avoid at any and all costs. The drive for survival was greater than any pain that an animal could endure.

But Flaky was tired of it. She was fed up with the constant pain and deaths at someone else's expense. It was all because of their idiocy that she had to suffer every waking day. The porcupine was about to snap.

All of the irritation, hatred and anger that Flaky kept hidden inside, beneath the layers of characteristic kindness and shyness were crawling through the cracks made by such conclusions. Years of pent up emotions began to rise. Flaky's black pacman pupils seemed to shrink slightly and around them grew a band of scarlet.

She landed with a splash in the acid. The burning that immediately followed was like nothing Flaky had ever experienced. It was all of the injuries and deaths she had ever felt put together, and then multiplied by fifty.

Her skin began to dissolve. She opened her mouth to scream, but the acid flowed into her down her throat, dissolving her insides like spider venom. Flaky's quills disintegrated. Her eyelids burned away, and soon she was only a skeleton.

But before the acid made it to her brain, a thought repeated in her head. As the radioactive waste finally met it, the thought was still inside.

_It's all their fault. They need to pay. They need to be punished. Every single one of them._


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

**Hit A Snooze Button**

"Flaky? Flaky, are you awake?"

The porcupine slowly rose from her murky slumber and into consciousness. Her lids were very heavy. She almost fell straight back to sleep, but a shake on the shoulder helped her stay awake. Flaky rubbed her tired eyes with her hands and tried to sit up.

She realized that she had been reborn. At least, that's what they called coming back to life in Happy Tree Valley. She was lying in a hospital bed with Sniffles standing beside her. The anteater had donned a pair of white scrubs. In his hand was a stethoscope and he was holding his other hand against Flaky's forehead.

"Everyone returned at pretty much the same time. But you we're a few hours late. They've already left. How did you die?"

Flaky groaned and pushed Sniffles eager face from her vision. Her head was hurting way too much to answer any of his questions right now.

"My head hurts…" she muttered. The female moved her sheets off of her body and started to exit the bed.

"You really shouldn't get out of bed if you're still hurting. Is it just your head? Does any of the rest of you hurt? Where?"

Flaky frowned and once again pushed Sniffles away. "You ask too many questions," she growled at him. But now that he mentioned it, it wasn't just her head. Flaky's skin was tingling too, with the feeling of pins and needles. Her eyes were hurting from her headache, and as she stood her vision wavered. Flaky lost her balance and had to catch herself the bedside table.

Sniffles tried once again to help Flaky back onto the bed, but the female simply ignored him. The second she gained her balance, she walked out of the hollow tree – the hospital – and headed home.

**Sniffles POV**

A day earlier, Sniffles was sitting at the desk of the hospital-tree, reading his medical book when Lumpy arrived. The moose had managed to drive the remaining bodies back to the hospital. Lumpy had managed to keep himself safe until Flippy calmed down. Once the bear had gone back to his normal self, he helped Lumpy load all of the surviving bodies into the moose's truck. Handy and Toothy – predictably – ended up impaling each other with their axes. He picked up Cuddles from the street. Lumpy had told Sniffles that Evil Flippy (Or as they sometimes call him, Evil) had pushed Flaky's car into toxic waste that he and Nutty had spilled.

The moose had tried to turn on the emergency moat that surrounded the building in case of such spills. But unfortunately he had pulled the wrong lever, and instead opened a trap door that led directly to the shredder in the basement. Nutty had happened to be standing on said trap door. He was shredded into long green strips of fur and blood. The scraps of his body continued down the conveyor belt and ended up being burned in the incinerator.

Sniffles had been worried at the news of Flaky. Radioactive waste had proved to be very dangerous. It had turned most of the Happy Tree Friends into zombies one Halloween night. There hadn't been another incident like it, but the waste certainly was unpredictable. Sniffles had actually been doing a study about it. It seemed that under different circumstances the outcome of exposure to waste would vary.

He explained this to Lumpy as they unloaded the bodies and moved them to the back. The dim moose simply stared. Sniffles sighed. There weren't many he could share is intellect with. The few people who could understand him were shy, murderous, OCD, frozen, mute, or thieves. It was hard being the smartest person in Happy Tree Valley.

After Lumpy helped Sniffles buried the bodies in the backyard, they left the hospital and returned early the next morning. Flippy came along with them. When he wasn't flipped-out, he always felt guilty whenever he killed someone, and liked to apologize.

Everyone but Nutty and Flaky had been reborn by then and hastily went on with their normal business. Nutty was reborn an hour later. But it wasn't for another six hours that Flaky had appeared. Sniffles had been sitting outside of the door to the room. No one was exactly sure how or why anyone in Happy Tree Valley would come back, but an unspoken rule was that no one could be around when another friend was reborn. It just worked like that. So the room always had to be vacated before anyone would come back.

When Sniffles had heard the groaning coming from inside the room, he immediately entered. Flaky was lying in one of the re-made beds. The porcupine had been sweating and fidgeting underneath her covers, moaning loudly. Sniffles shook the girl awake.

He asked Flaky how she was feeling, but the female seemed too tired and annoyed to respond to any of his efforts. She even growled at him, which was very out of character for her. It surprised Sniffles. But he knew she was in pain, so he decided to let her leave without investigation. Maybe some more rest at home would do her good.

In truth, Sniffles had always liked Flaky, and he even had a small crush on the red female. He liked Flaky's attitude and her kindness – she wasn't as careless or dense as the others. Flaky had manners and thought about her actions.

Besides, she was cute. That dandruff of hers was simply adorable. And her quills, though sharp, were sometimes soft to the touch in a way, almost like hair. The color of her fur, like the pastel red hues of a setting sun against the treetops, was inviting and warm. Flaky's personality was kind and generous. She was patient and forgiving – in fact, her forgiveness was what Sniffles liked most about her.

Sniffles went back downstairs and sat at his desk once again. He began to look for his book when a Flippy entered the hospital-tree.

Sniffles sat up and waved kindly, but said nothing. It was hard to be openly kind to someone who killed most of your friends every day, and sometimes you. Not that Flippy wasn't okay when he was normal Flippy, but you had to remember that Evil Flippy was still Flippy – just another side of him.

Flippy waved back. His eyes were pure black, so there wouldn't be any flipping-out at the moment. Sniffles smiled in relief. "What do you need, Flippy?"

The bear walked up to the desk. "I wanted to see if Flaky came back yet. Did she?"

Sniffles frowned. "No," he said to Flippy. "She was reborn and left a little while ago."

Flippy's smile dimmed. "Oh. Okay. Um, was she alright?" Lumpy had told Flippy about what his other half had done to the Flaky, and the war veteran was still feeling guilty about it.

"Not really. She looked fine, but you could tell she was still hurt. She said she had a headache."

"Ah." It was quiet for a moment, and the silence was awkward. Sniffles and Flippy weren't really friends – at least not the talk-to-each-other-regularly kind.

"Do you think she'd mind if I visited her and said I was sorry at her house?" Flippy asked. It wasn't really a question directed at Sniffles, but the anteater answered anyway. "I don't know, Flippy. You were the one who put her in the hospital in the first place. Maybe you should give her some time." Sniffle knew the words would hurt Flippy's feelings, but the blue anteater was still a little angry at the bear.

Flippy's smile was now gone, and he stared down at his feet.

Sniffles watched as the male bid him goodbye and leave the hospital-tree. The anteater felt a little guilty about being so mean to Flippy, but he wasn't ready to apologize. Instead he found his book and read it, trying to get rid of the angry feelings in his heart and the images of Flaky in his head.

**Flippy POV**

It wasn't easy being a war bear with post dramatic stress disorder. It was hard to fit in and even harder to make friends. Flippy couldn't help it – he had faced tough times in the War. But the War was over. He just wanted to make friends.

When Flippy had parachuted down into Happy Tree Village, he thought he would be able to start a new life. But he had seen too many horrible things to simply banish them from his head, and his past followed him.

Flippy thought, the least he could do was apologize to all of the friends he killed after his rampages.

The bear walked through the section of valley where all of the buildings began to raise. There was the burger house Petunia would sometimes run. A few yards to Flippy's right was a line of trees, and a camp site hid just beyond vision. Houses began to emerge on either side of him.

Flippy kept his focus trained on Flaky. He had to apologize. Flippy liked Flaky – she was a nice friend and was usually the only person who wasn't boiling mad at him when she was reborn. She just forgave him. That was something he liked about her.

Flippy soon arrived to Flaky's house, a giant tree stump. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. That was odd.

The bear tried again, but Flaky wasn't answering her door. Sighing, the army bear circled the house. There was a window on the far side, and it was cracked open.

It wouldn't hurt to look. He could just peek inside, and if she was there he would get her attention.

Flippy quietly walked up to the window, but thoughts began to enter his mind. What if it was a window to Flaky's room? What if she was doing something personal in there?

A few thoughts entered his mind, but he banished the pink blush that dusted his cheeks and continued on. If she was doing anything personal, he would leave. He had plenty of other opportunities to talk to her again.

He looked through the window

Flaky was sitting on a large, white bed. She was sitting on top of the covers, cross legged, with her back partially turned from him. She was hunched over something. Flippy couldn't get a clear look at what it was.

_What is it? What is it? What is the enemy hiding?_

The female porcupine let out a short chuckle, somewhat sounding like a hiss, and Flippy cringed a bit. He settled onto his knees so that less of his face was visible in the glass but he could still look inside. Sounds from inside floated through the opening in the window.

"Those idiots…" Flippy thought he had misheard, but the female was slowly repeating the words, and he knew he was not wrong.

"Those stupid idiots," Flaky continued. Her back hunched further, and her quills rose slightly in the air. To Flippy, they seemed much sharper than usual.

"Those stupid animals!" It was a high whisper, harsh, with a sound like the shredding of paper. "It's always there fault. They're always killing me and hurting me and – oh, the _pain_. They die too, but that's because of their own idiocy. Why should I suffer? How come?"

Suddenly Flaky's tone returned to normal.

"I can't do it…" she whispered in a shaky voice. "I couldn't do that to them…"

"Yes I could," she said again, her voice back to its low menacing drawl. "Yes I caaaaaan. It would be so _easy_."

"No, no, no!" Flaky's body began to shake. " I don't want to hurt anyone. They never meant it…"

"…Never meant to what?" the other voice questioned itself in a pondering voice, as if searching for an answer. "Never meant to shove me down dry slides? Never meant to leave me stranded on slopes of frozen water? Never meant to hold me upside down by my legs so my dandruff could make _snow for a stupid play?"_

The voice was rising in volume. "Were they _all_ accidents? Being thrown into a fire? Was that an accident? How about being strangled? Having my head sliced of in a movie theater? Being murdered because of my _pointy_ quills?"

Flaky's dark voice stopped its rant. Flippy risked rising his head a little higher.

_Keep talking. I need more information. Don't stop now. _

"I…"

Both voices seemed to be used at once, and the sound it made scared Flippy to the bone, and not very many things frightened the bear. "I love them... I care about all of them. But the pain – I can't take the pain anymore! It hurts too much… I want them to feel my pain…"

Flaky's head tilted to one side, as if in confusion.

"What are you doing to me…?"

"Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little Flaky. Raise your head and they'll be dead, go to sleep little Flaky." The dark, gravelly voice sang softly. Then Flaky broke into a fit of hysterical giggles.

"Just hit the snooze button," she laughed to herself, as if it was a joke. "It'll wake you up later. Much, much later!"

Flaky turned slightly, and Flippy could see what she was holding in her hands.

It was the totem. The cursed totem that brought bad luck wherever it was. Flippy stared at it hard. Why did Flaky have it? Was she insane? Did she want to die in the next five seconds?

Flaky was holding the tiny statue lovingly against her chest.

She began singing, in the lowest of whispers, "Hush little baby, don't say a word, mommy's gonna kill you a mocking bird. And if the mocking bird won't scream, she'll mix its blood in cold ice cream. And if the ice cream's sour and bad, mommy's gonna have to hold her sad…little…_ba_by…"

The tune died. And then, "I'll buy you a bunny, and I'll tie its hands and feet together so it can't run away…"

From where Flippy was, he could just make out half of Flaky's face. The porcupine was smiling.

"I'll stretch your bones and peel your skin; I'll gut you like trout. You'll scream, oh, but that's nice, the blood dripping on the floor, staining the wooden boards… Grinding, breaking, smashing, pulling, tearing, beating, biting, slapping, cutting, hurting, killing, bleeding…! Blood will seep into the floor…"

Flaky opened her eyes. What Flippy saw made him gasp.

Flaky's scarlet eyes shimmered from moisture and glee. "And all I'll see is red…"


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**Innuendo **

Flippy ran back to the front of the house before he was seen. He had to control himself. The information he had gathered had been too similar to that he might have heard in the war (albeit the slight insanity in the tone). He was close to flipping-out. But he managed to fight the urge to let go and formulated a plan.

Something was wrong with Flaky. The acid must have done something to her before she was reborn. Was that why it took her so long to return? It seemed logical. But Flippy didn't know enough about the acid to make any solid assumptions. The only one who did know about it was Sniffles.

Was what he had seen true? The sliver of hysteria that had begun to creep into the female's words; the way her voice conflicted with itself - and her eyes! The band of shining scarlet that circled her dilated pupils seemed achingly familiar.

Flippy stood before the front door. He wondered if Flaky – or whatever had happened to Flaky – would attack him at first sight. The thought brought a buzzing in his head, but he calmed it. He needed information, evidence, and clues as to what the porcupine was doing. Maybe he would even find what was causing the trouble.

Knocking on the door, the bear waited patiently for Flaky to answer. He had to stand there for three minutes before she did.

She looked normal. Her eyes were pure black, her quills had settled, and she was wearing her signature shy girl smile.

"Oh, um, hi Flippy." Her voice was back to normal. It was as if the Flaky Flippy had seen through the window had just been in his imagination.

He had to keep himself in control. He had to act as if everything was normal.

So Flippy smiled widely and said, "Hi, Flaky. I just came over to apologize for, um, killing you again. I hope it didn't hurt too much?"

A look crossed the porcupine's features; it was gone in the blink of an eye. "No," she replied quietly. "It wasn't so bad. My head hurts a little, but that's about it for now. And I forgive you for it. It's not your fault, Flippy."

Flippy thought her words sounded hollow, but he guessed maybe he was being paranoid.

"Would you like to come in?" Flaky asked, opening the door a little wider and moving aside.

"Sure." Flippy went inside and Flaky closed the door behind him.

Flaky kept her home neat, but it still had that lived-in feeling. Small round wooden tables held magazines and books, and on the kitchen counter there was a plate and cup. The top floor of the house was small with only two rooms – Flaky's bedroom and the living room and kitchen, which merged together.

"Would you like anything to drink? I have some orange juice already made."

"That would be good, thanks," Flippy said. To his far right, beyond the kitchen counter there was a staircase that led to the underground section of Flaky's home. He supposed she kept boxes of her possessions down there.

Flippy sat on the arm of one of Flaky's chairs. How would he get into the girl's room? He had to find out what she was doing with the idol, and how she planned on using it.

The bear took the orange juice and thanked Flaky as the girl sat on the sofa opposite from him. They began to talk. It wasn't about any specific, just normal things. The two of them talked about their favorite things and eventually they began discussing the other Happy Tree Friends and even the weather.

Eventually Flippy began to forget all about what he had seen. How could Flaky talk about killing her friends? She was just too nice. And Flippy didn't want to believe it. He was having fun just talking to Flaky. He didn't want to have to suspect her of anything. Flippy had never actually talked to Flaky directly, one on one. It was nice.

Flaky let out a yawn and stretched out on the couch. "It's getting late," she said.

Flippy sighed and nodded. He didn't want to leave, he was having fun. But it was getting dark. It was best if he got home before the sun was gone. "Yeah. I guess I should leave now."

Flaky took their glasses to the kitchen and Flippy headed for the door. But before he left Flaky said, "Hey, Flippy, could you do me a favor before you go?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Flaky gestured for the bear to follow her, and they went into her room.

Flaky's room was small, about the same size as her kitchen, with the walls painted a nice peach color. The wood was smooth, and the furniture was nice, too. Next to Flaky's bed was a desk. She went over to the desk and took out two pieces of paper.

"I'm writing invitations for Petunia and Giggles. I want to invite them to a camp out. It'll be nice for the three of us." Flippy nodded in silent agreement, but something didn't seem right. Why didn't Flaky invite them herself, in the morning?

He glanced around, and saw that the idol was lying on the floor, partly hidden beneath a pile of papers and pillows at the foot of the bed. Only its head could be seen, though the shadows.

Flippy attempted to be natural. He took a sharp step back away from the bed and pointed to the idol. "Flaky, the idol is in your room!"

Flaky's hunched over form froze. "What idol? Where?"

"It's here, under your bed." Flippy picked it up. The tiny statue's underlining power made his fingers twitch. "Don't worry; I'll get rid of it on my way out before anything bad happens to–"

"No!" Flaky came up from behind Flippy and snatched the idol from his grasp. He looked at her, surprised.

"I'll… do it myself…" Flaky said to him, trying to hold the idol close without looking too awkward. "I mean, I'm already making you deliver my letters. And who's to say that something bad won't happen to you before you get rid of it? I can do it myself. I'll just toss it in the woods from my window. Later."

Flaky set the totem on her desk and continued to write the invites.

Flippy's earlier reservations rose again. And this time, there was no doubt in his mind. Flaky was up to something, whether he liked it or not.

**Flaky POV **

That was close.

Flaky watched as Flippy walked away from her house. The bear had seen the totem and Flaky hadn't been able to help the defensiveness that rose inside of her when he said he would throw it out. She had chanced upon the idol on her way home from the hospital-tree. She couldn't afford to lose it.

Flaky began to plan, and at the same time she wondered what was happening to her. It was as if she was using one half of her brain, and the other half was being controlled by another Flaky, an mean one, one with plots and schemes developing. And even though Flaky kept telling herself that it wasn't really her, she knew that whatever was trying to take control of her body was indeed another part of her. Another part, but it was still her in truth.

Flaky took the idol now and held it against her chest. The power that emitted from the small statue made her ribs hum, and the feeling was nice.

A plan had already formulated in the porcupine's head. It was such a simple, devious plan, but it would take time to initiate.

And then there was Flippy.

The normal part of Flaky – the part that had been in control during most of his visit – had deeply enjoyed talking with the bear. He was kind when he wasn't flipped-out, and the two of them actually had a lot in common.

But the new, other half of Flaky saw Flippy as a threat. He was smart, one of the smartest people in Happy Tree Valley. Plus, the bear was experienced. Out of anyone, he would be the first to see through any plans she would carry out. It wouldn't be so soon, no, but eventually the retired war veteran would put the pieces together.

So this held the question: Did she go after him first, or save him for last?

XxXxXx

Flaky took the idol downstairs and into the underground basement of her house. The feeling of dirt and wood beneath her toes was a pleasant one. Flaky was always her calmest when below ground level.

The female porcupine walked over to a part of the wall that had been dug out more. It wasn't a very large hole. Flaky would sometimes dig in it when she needed to keep her mind off of things. She enjoyed digging.

Flaky now walked over to the tiny hole. Her eyes – which had been their regular black – had begun to shrink and grow red once again. Her quills rose from her back and became more pointed. Flaky grinned as curved claws grew from her fingers. Good digging claws.

She began to excavate. The process was gradual. Flaky would dig her long claws into the dirt and fling excess dirt out of the hole. The hole grew wider, and after half an hour of digging, Flaky was able to stand in it.

She dug farther into the wall. Eventually, the dirt gave way and turned into something tougher and harder. It was what she had been looking for – clay.

Pulling herself out of the hole, Flaky grabbed a shovel and began to exhume the pale orange clay from the ground. Eventually she had chunks of it sitting around the rim of the hole. When she was done, Flaky put the lumps of clay into a large bucket and took it upstairs. She didn't have enough light downstairs to work with.

Flaky put the clay beside her desk and took a quick shower to get rid of all the dirt she had on her fur. When she was done, she gathered some old newspapers and laid them out on the desk top. Putting on some gloves Flaky grabbed the first clump of clay, pulled off a smaller piece, and began to work.

But it wasn't until she finished the first project that Flaky realized something. What if the idol wouldn't be able to work the way she hoped? She didn't know if it could direct its power off at random. It was a puzzling thought, and Flaky spent a few moments to try and come up with a solution. Eventually she did.

Grinning again, Flaky grabbed the idol and the clay and took them to the kitchen. She looked around. Luckily, Flaky had just recently bought a new blender; a very strong, durable blender.

The porcupine opened the top of the blender and set the statue on the counter. Then she fished a chisel and hammer from a drawer in the living room. She set the pointed tool on the very middle of the totem. She would have to be extremely careful. She couldn't afford any sort of accident.

With short grunt, Flaky slammed the hammer onto the head of the wedge. It was driven into the statue and cracked it in two. Heat hissed through the crack, and Flaky quickly held the broken idol tightly closed. She couldn't allow any sort of power or magic to escape. Carefully, Flaky put the broken idol in the blender and lidded it before the heat could escape. It hazed the plastic frame and shrouded the statue in some sort of red smoke.

Flaky looked at the options. Chop, grate, grind, stir, puree, whip, mix, blend, liquefy, ice crush.

After a moment of consideration, a clawed red finger pushed the 'grind' option. The blender roared to life. The totem inside didn't stand a chance.

After the harsh grinding and roaring sounds had died down, Flaky pressed the red button that red 'off' and lifted the cup of the blender up. The inside looked like pounded crackers, with some kind of red dust sitting at the bottom. Flaky was pleased to find that the powerful vibrations were still coming off of the idol's remains.

Popping off the lid, Flaky quickly upturned the contents of the blender and put it in the clay. She mixed it together with gloved hands. Once the mixing was done, Flaky was left with a mound of reddish-orange clay that tingled under your fingers. She was pleased.

Flaky carried the clay back into her room. Removing a glove, she carefully grabbed a portion of the clay. The feeling of power made her fingers vibrate for a few seconds, but then it died down. Flaky let out another toothy grin and began once again to mold the clay.

"Gonna have some fun. Gonna have some fun…"


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

**And Whaddya Think He Saw?**

Flippy woke up the next morning with a purpose. He had to keep an eye on Flaky. She seemed normal through most of his visit the day before, but he couldn't get the image of her scarlet eyes out of his head.

Flippy rolled out of his bed and went to the bathroom to do his business. Washing his hands, he opened up his medicine cabinet and took out a bottle of his medication. Flippy swallowed a few of the small blue pills. He had perfected the art of taking pills without water. The bear couldn't afford any sort of disruption if he was going to spy on Flaky.

Flippy glanced at himself in the mirror. Everything was in place, as it usually was. His fir was neat, his hat and jacket were in place and ironed. Something else that had left war with Flippy was his neatness. Like Petunia, he liked things in their place. But he wasn't as obsessive about it as the skunk was.

Flippy left his house – an overturned log – and headed down to the camp grounds. He hid behind the rock ledge that over sat overhanging the grounds. He was far away enough to hear, but to not be seen. And his camouflage cap would hopefully blend in with the pieces of shrub he was holding around his head.

Flaky was already in the camp, and she was setting up a tent. A bag of her things was sitting a few yards away. In the middle of the camp, Flaky had set rocks down to outline the campfire. Flippy nodded at her preparations. They had only been at the camp for fifteen minutes. Flaky worked fast.

It wasn't for a little while that Petunia and Giggles arrived. They each carried large backpacks full of things. Giggles's backpack was lumpy, with things hanging out of it, while Petunia's rucksack looked as neat as a coat of paint (weird analogy). Everything had its proper place.

Flippy wondered why their bags had so much stuff. Were they staying more than one night?

Giggles waved to Flaky. "Hi Flaky. How are you? I heard you got hurt a few days ago."

Petunia added, "Sniffles told us after we came to visit you in the hospital-tree. Are you alright?"

Flaky said, "Yeah, don't worry about me. I'm fine. I wanted to spend some time with you two; that's why I invited you."

"Aw, Flaky, you're so sweet!" Giggles settled down her bag and ran to give Flaky a hug. The porcupine flinched, but then hugged the chipmunk back.

Petunia settled her bags on one of the logs and sat down. "I suppose we should get some firewood," she said, pulling out things from her rucksack. Flippy paid close attention. There was rope, wires, a chisel, matches, a few blankets, bug spray, sun block, and perfume. Petunia liked to keep herself smelling sweet. Giggles unpacked her things, too. Some knives, a bag of marshmallows, a few cans of beans, chips, bottled water, lanterns, pillows and sleeping bags.

"I brought one bag for each of us," Giggles said. "Just like you asked, Flaky." Flippy listened intently. Flaky had asked them to bring those things? Flippy cursed inwardly. He should have read the letters she made him deliver.

The bear checked the position of the sun – a trick he had learned during the war. It was still very early in the morning. The sun was barely past the treetops. The air was a neutral temperature – it was the beginning of fall, and the temperature was just starting to fall into a colder status. The leaves were turning pleasant shades of red and orange, along with the yellow and greens.

The three females began to set up their camp. Petunia was putting everything in easy access points while Giggles helped Flaky with the tent. Flippy sighed. He repositioned himself into a more comfortable position. Stake out missions had always been his least favorite. There was never any kind of action. And it was almost always uncomfortable. He sniffled and whipped his nose with the sleeve of his jacket.

There was a breeze flowing through the valley. It caressed the trees and made them whisper against each other, and the feeling that came from the sound was relaxing. Flaky's quills seemed to quiver as well. They rose and fell like the feathers of a bird.

"Who wants popcorn? I brought some." Flaky pulled a pan out from her bag and some popcorn wrapped in tin foil. She walked over to the fire pit and sat down. She grabbed a match and lit it on a rock.

Flippy looked at the small flame. Almost instantly, the little flame seemed to grow and cover his vision. He smelt burning buildings, cooking flesh…

No! He couldn't let himself flip-out here. It would ruin the whole operation. Flippy took a few deep breathes to calm himself down.

Petunia looked at Flaky incredulously. "You can't pop any popcorn until we get firewood, Flaky."

"Oh," Flaky said, sounding dejected. "You're right. Silly me." She blew the flame out.

"I brought some sunflower seeds, if you're hungry Flaky." Giggles pulled a bag of sunflower seeds from her sack and threw them to Flaky, who clumsily caught them. "Thank you," she said, ripping open a hole in the bag. Flippy grunted and kept breathing deeply.

The porcupine got a handful of seeds and put them in her mouth, chewing. "Do you eat the seeds?" Petunia asked. Flaky shrugged.

"Cuddles doesn't," Giggles said, joining the conversation. She was holding some kind of metal bowl. Setting it on the ground, she said to the still eating Flaky, "You can spit the shells in here." Then, turning back to Petunia, "Cuddles just sucks on the seeds, and then he spits the seeds out, like, rapid fire." She smiled. "It's kind of gross, but at the same time it's really funny because his cheeks will puff out from so many seeds."

Giggles demonstrated by puffing out her large cheeks, scrunching up her face. Petunia laughed and Flaky smiled. The porcupine seemed to be finished, and she began to spit the shells out into the metal bowl.

The sound of the shells hitting the bowl rang out, and they reminded Flippy of gunshots, shells from riffles drilling through the sweaty air. Another flash of his past ran across his eyes. They twitched and his breathing became harder.

The bear was having trouble to keep himself in control. It was getting harder. Flaky had some more seeds and continued to spit them out. Flippy forced his eyes to stay open, and he stared at the clouds. Think calm thoughts, he told himself.

It was hard, but eventually Flippy was okay. He whipped the sweat from his forehead and returned his attention back to the porcupine.

Flaky was sitting beside an empty bag of sunflower seeds. She had eaten them all, and the metal bowl was full of shells. The female was looking quite unhappy. Flaky swept her gaze around, looking at the line of trees that separated the girls and the rest of the valley.

Petunia, having put on some fresh perfume said to Flaky, "Let's go find some firewood."

The porcupine nodded and picked up the pan that held the popcorn. Petunia turned to call Giggles over, but Flaky raised the pan and brought it down right on Petunia's skull.

Flippy's eyes widened and he lifted himself a little. He couldn't believe that that just happened. It was one thing to hear Flaky talk about hurting her friends, but it was something else completely to see her do the act. It was an image even Flippy's mind hadn't been able to conjure.

Flaky had made sure not to hit the skunk so hard that the metal kitchenware would crush her skull, or that the force would make her eyes shoot from her sockets. It was a calculated hit – just enough to knock the girl out.

Petunia fell with limply onto the grassy floor, and Giggles was staring at her friend in shock. "F-Flaky, why did you do that?"

"She had a bug on her," Flaky said, her voice light but mocking. She slowly walked towards Giggles. "In fact, my bubbly pink friend, I think I see a spider on your head as well." Flaky's voice had dropped an octave, and Flippy could imagine her eyes becoming scarlet red.

Giggles let out a short scream and turned to run, but Flaky caught her with surprising speed. With a swift swing, the chipmunk was unconscious with only a trickle of blood to suggest otherwise. Flaky whipped the blood off with a hand and grinned in satisfaction. Flippy watched as the female walked calmly back to her sack and pulled out a box.

Opening the box, Flaky pulled out a roll of gauze and proceeded to wrap a thin strip around Giggles's head wound. Then she dragged the chipmunk by the feet and grabbed the rope that Petunia had brought with her. Using the rope, Flaky quickly tied the pink Happy Tree Friend up by her wrists and ankles. She then tied part of the rope over her mouth as a gag. She repeated the process on Petunia. And then she stuffed both girls into her bag, which by now had been emptied of its sparse amount of contents.

The entire time Flaky was doing this, she hummed a tune that Flippy recognized but couldn't quite think of the name. It was familiar to him.

As Flaky zipped the bag closed, leaving just a bit if it undone for air, she rolled her head on her shoulders and let out a sigh. And then she let out a short, light laugh.

"That was easy," she mused to herself. "One would've thought that Petunia would have at least suspected something. She was supposed to be the observant one. It's interesting catching her off guard."

Flaky grabbed the bands of the sack and heaved Giggles and Petunia onto her back. It was a heavy load, but the porcupine managed to walk with it. Flippy wondered why she didn't just drag it away.

_She doesn't want to leave a trail, or any evidence._

It was beginning to make sense. Flaky couldn't tell Petunia and Giggles in person about the camping trip because it had to be early in the morning, and she had to make a list of all the things she would need. Flippy guessed that Flaky didn't have many of the materials in her own home, so she tricked Giggles and Petunia into supplying her with the items she needed. She also wanted the trip to start early in the morning so that none of the other valley residence would notice the sound or screams.

A very well thought out plan. Flippy realized that Flaky had bandaged Giggles's head wound to keep blood from staining her bag which she would probably need later, and she couldn't have any incriminating evidence.

Flaky began to slowly leave the camp grounds. But then she paused and turned around. She at the trees that surrounded her one more time, and then she looked in Flippy's direction, glancing at the sky. The ex-war bear forced himself to keep still. Moving shrubbery would be very suspicious. From here, he could clearly see her eyes. Glowing fiery red in the light of the rising sun.

Flaky let out a laugh – short and loud – and then turned to continue on. Flippy guessed she was going back to her house.

The female began to sing the lyrics to whatever she had been humming. Her voice kept Flippy from following her retreating figure.

"The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, and whaddya thing he saw? Whaddya think he saw? Whaddya think he saw? The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain, and whaddya thing he saw?"

_Shit..._

* * *

**I liked this chapter. It gave me time to exersise my plan making skills. Just for the know, I'm going to be away for a few days. I have the next chapter ready, but it's going to be a few days before I can write any more, so no updates for a little bit. I'm really into this story though! I plan to finish it soon.**

**Review, please. Pretty please? Ugly please? **


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

**Cartoon**

Lately, Sniffles had been pondering about the world of Happy Tree Valley. He did this activity on a daily basis when he wasn't busy, and at the moment all Sniffles had to do was lie in one of his own hospital beds. His left eye was gone, as was his right leg and most of his small tail. Sniffles's jaw had been split right down the middle. It was very, very painful, but of course killing himself to end the pain never came to his head. Well, it did but he never really considered the option.

All animals have an incredibly strong instinct in their minds and bodies that constantly screams, "Live! Survive!" Animals know that they only have one life, and that it's precious and they need to keep themselves safe no matter what.

But in Happy Tree Valley you come back from the dead. If that's so, why were the Happy Tree Friends still so petrified of dying, including Sniffles? They shouldn't be, he knew.

It might have had something to do with the valley. Sniffles had long since noticed that time moved differently here than it did in other parts of the world, which used to exist to them. It moved slowly. Seasons came and went as they were supposed to, as did night and day, but other than that time seemed frozen. No one aged. Any kind of childishness they had when a friend first entered the valley seemed to stay, and they never really grew out of it, no matter how much they grew mentally.

Sniffles had concluded that whatever you entered Happy Tree Valley with, any kind of age or characteristics or morals would most likely stay with you for the rest of your life. It would explain why Handy never got his hands back when he was reborn and why Cub never aged. It would explain a lot of things.

But sometimes, every few what-seems-like-years, one of the friends _would_ change. It had happened to Sniffles, Lumpy, Splendid, Handy, Flaky, Petunia, Lifty, Shifty and Flippy on record. The anteater remembered the feeling.

Sniffles hadn't always been the serious, calculative creature he was presently. A few years back, he used to be just like the other Happy Tree Friends. He would play and follow and laugh freely and die horribly, but he would never really care about it. Sniffles was like this, he guessed, because if he remembered correctly, he had entered Happy Tree Valley when he was about eleven years of age. He was still learning the ways of the world, and his knowledge had stopped the moment he stepped past the line of time and reality. Sniffles was frozen in his childhood. He had been caught at a time when things were still new to him, and he didn't hold grudges and he still liked to have as much fun as possible. And after learning became too difficult, he ended up becoming one of them. Carefree and forgiving.

But one day, when he was in the hospital, walking down the hall, it happened. It was like stepping into a wall of dirty water, where everything was muffled and distorted. The light went in a totally different direction and you had no idea which way was up or how to escape. Everything was dark and suffocating. It was as if walking into a shredded piece of time.

Then the flashes had begun. Sniffles watched himself walk into Happy Tree Valley, and then the scene changed. He saw himself doing all sorts of things; reading, scavenging, sleeping, traveling, and observing the world. But it wasn't in the valley. It was in new places, different places, and Sniffles later realized that he had seen all that would have happened, all that he could have been, if he had never found Happy Tree Valley.

And then he changed. Sniffles's became more solemn in his actions and thoughts, which were beginning to develop. Sniffles could easily read and learn new things without the frozen bits of time keeping him stuck in a single place. The anteater stayed the same size, but his ears grew longer, and his eyesight got a little worse, as if time had worn away his vision, forcing him to make a new pair of glasses for himself.

Things had changed. Ideas, morals, feelings… Sniffles's feelings had changed the most. If the anteater had to guess, he would have to say he wasn't eleven, but around sixteen to seventeen years old. Once in a while, he still liked to play with his friends, but he also liked time to himself.

Other friends had had the experience as well. Some grew in age, like Handy, Flaky, Flippy and Petunia. Some grew in ideals and some grew mentally. No one ever changed their shape, but they were always different on the inside.

But even then, even after 'growing up', all of the friends were still afraid of the concept of death. Maybe, Sniffles supposed dully, it was just an animal thing – an instinctual thing; something that could never be changed or helped or forgotten.

Sniffle's train of thought was knocked off track when the door to the room opened. Lumpy, a tall blue moose with mismatched antlers walked into the room. He was wearing a pair of scrubs, as Sniffles usually did, and in his hand was a first aid kit. He calmly walked over to the bedridden blue anteater.

Lumpy set the first aid kit next to Sniffles's bed and pulled out some gauze, needles, thread and rubbing alcohol.

"Alright," Lumpy said in his deep, soft voice. "You'll be needin' some stitches, Sniffles. Lemme jus' get the needle ready..." Lumpy held a needle in his fingers and attempted to stick the thread in the end. Sniffles watched him do this for ten minutes. When the moose did get the thread inside, he shouted triumphantly and lifted the needle into the air. The thread, which he had yet to actually tie, fell from the hole.

"Oops... I'll try again..."

Sniffles shook his head and kicked the needle out of Lumpy's hands with his good leg. He gestured to a pen and paper that sat beside the bed. Lumpy stared at it, then picked it up and handed it to Sniffles.

The anteater wrote down, 'Never mind it. Go get Flaky. She has some medical experience. She knows how to do it. Go get her to help me.' He handed the paper to Lumpy, who held it up to his face, against his large nose. "I uh... I can't read it..."

Sniffles rolled his eyes and tried to snort, but that only made his split nose hurt even more. It came out more as a gurgling sound from the base of his jaw.

"Don't worry! I'll get someone to read it for me!"

Lumpy turned to leave, but his foot got caught on the table. He fell over, and the rubbing alcohol flew into the air. It was uncapped. The contents of it fell onto Sniffles's broken and bloody form.

The anteater would have screamed if he still had a mouth to do so.

XxXxXx

It just so happened that the first person Lumpy had found was Flaky. If Sniffles hadn't been burning in pure agony, he might have been happy to hear the news. Flaky entered the room and kindly asked Lumpy to stay outside. Then she walked over to Sniffles.

"What happened?" Flaky asked, her voice airy from shock. She looked down at Sniffles with concern. The anteater ignored the warmth that rose in his chest at her worry and wrote down, 'Ants'.

"Again?" She sounded incredulous, and perhaps slightly amused.

'They taste delicious'

"Why do you keep going after them, though?"

'It's not my fault the only ants in Happy Tree Valley just so happen to be a very intelligent, very well supplied family'

Flaky laughed softly at this, and the sound made Sniffles relax. Here was someone who he could talk to without feeling as if his words were miles away. He pointed to the table of instruments.

'Could you stitch my nose and jaw back together?'

Flaky frowned. "But I've never sewn a person back together before. You only let me practice on those little dummies. And I ended up sticking a needle in my own eye and decapitating you with the thread."

'I need stitches, and I don't really want Lumpy doing it'

"Flippy knows how to stitch up wounds."

Sniffles shook his head firmly. He did not want the bear anywhere near his tools, or near him with his tools. 'No. I want you to do it. You know how. It isn't that hard.'

"What about your eye and your leg?"

Sniffles shrugged. 'I don't mind looking like Russell for a few days.' This earned another laugh from Flaky. 'The eye will come back. I'm not sure about my leg. There haven't really been any missing limbs in the hospital – they always end dead from blood loss or they just die. Maybe it'll come back like my eye.'

"Maybe." Flaky sighed and put on a mask. She asked, "Where's the nitrous oxide?"

'In the closet.'

"Okay. What about rubbing alcohol?"

Sniffles shivered. 'Uh… downstairs. You'll have to get some downstairs. We don't have any more up here.'

"You can stop writing now," Flaky said, looking for some goggles and a scrub. "I know it's tiring your arms. I know what to do – just lay back and relax."

Sniffles nodded and when she left the room he allowed his eyes to slide closed.

Sniffles had wanted to talk with Flaky. Not just talk, but he wanted to… get to know her. Sniffles thought he had strong feelings for Flaky, but in truth he realized that he didn't know all that much about the porcupine. He knew she was timid and shy, cautious, and smart. She liked her friends but didn't enjoy playing with them if they were doing something stupid – so she wasn't a follower. From Sniffles's observations over the years, Flaky seemed to feel pain more than the others. Maybe she was had a greater sensitivity to it. Sniffles couldn't know for sure.

The stitching didn't take as long as Sniffles had thought it would. Flaky had spoken as if she was uneasy, but her hands were steady and she asked minimal questions about what to do. She was doing better than any of her practices. During this time Sniffles's pain was being numbed by the gas (they had to insert a small tub into his nasal hole because his nose and mouth were both split open).

It took only an hour and Flaky had finished. Once she put down the tools, she seemed to return to her usual timid self. "Did I do well?" she asked, helping Sniffles to sit up on his bed. The anteater grabbed a mirror from the side table and looked into it.

He nodded. The stitching was neat, and his nose and mouth were where they should be. Sniffles still couldn't talk or breathe too well, but he guessed that his jaw would mend itself in a day or two. Gauze was covering his empty eye socket.

'Thank you' Sniffles wrote. Flaky smiled and fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt. "No problem. I'm glad you didn't die or anything. It really isn't much fun." Sniffles nodded in agreement.

"So…um…" Flaky trailed off, and if Sniffles didn't know any better, he could have sworn that the fur on her cheeks was redder than the rest of her. "Hey Sniffles, um, I was just wondering. Maybe, when you're all better, we could… um… hang out?"

Sniffles's heart stopped. Was she asking what he thought she was asking? He quickly scribbled onto the back of his paper, 'You mean like normal hanging out?'

"No, no," Flaky said. She looked away for a moment, and then stared into the anteater's eyes. "I mean like a date. So… do you want to go on a date with me? When you're better, I mean."

Sniffles couldn't believe it. He didn't know which part of the offer was more surprising. That _Flaky_ was asking him out on a date, or that Flaky was asking _him _out on a _date!_

Holy crap.

A date.

With Flaky.

…

Holy crap.

"Sniffles? Are you alright? You look like you're about to faint."

Sniffles blinked and shook his head to get rid of the haziness.

"Oh. So you don't want to go on a date?"

Sniffles jumped. He hopped off of the bed and nodded fiercely. He took Flaky's hand and did his best to smile with his broken jaw.

Flaky smiled back shyly and took her hand back. "Alright then." She took off the robe and waved at Sniffles as she walked away. "Come find me when you're all better, and we can go on a date. Okay?"

Sniffles nodded so hard that his nose flopped up and hit him in the face. Flaky laughed again and smiled as she turned to go. But before she left, she called over her shoulder, "Hey, have you seen Giggles or Petunia lately?"

Sniffles shook his head and then tilted it. Flaky blushed again. "We went camping this morning and they both went out to look for wood, but never came back. I mean... I looked for them for a little bit, but I didn't want to go too far... Never mind. If you do see them, tell them to come look for me. I feel so bad. Anyways... bye." She waved and closed the door.

Sniffles was floating on air. He sighed and walked towards the door.

His foot caught on some string - the string that Lumpy had dropped carelessly onto the floor. Sniffles tripped and his hands flailed as he looked for something to grip onto. His hand hit something metal and he fell onto the floor face first. The anteater rolled onto his back.

There was a shaker of pepper flying in the air. The top of it was slightly twisted open. The cap fell off as the pepper shaker upended in the air. The pepper fell directly into Sniffles's remaining eye, creeping around his large glasses.

The baby blue anteater let out a sound in his throat and pulled himself up. He remembered Lumpy had been eating some eggs and grits earlier. Sniffles grumbled to himself and felt the tabletop, careful of the sharp medical tools. Lumpy had been drinking a bottle of water. Sniffles found it and spilled its contents onto his eye.

It wasn't until his eye began sizzling that Sniffles realized that it wasn't water he had grabbed, it was the rubbing alcohol.

Sniffles screamed in his throat again and ran over to the sink. Tears fell down his face as he fumbled for the switch. Once he found it and turned the sink on, he plunged his head into the running water, holding his nose and jaw out of the side so he could breath.

Sniffles sometimes thought he lived in some kind of sick, repetitive, ironic cartoon.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

**Confirmation**

"Flippy, have you seen Giggles?"

Flippy shook his head at Cuddles, and the yellow rabbit sighed and shook his own head. "I've been looking all morning," he said to the war bear. "But I haven't seen her or Petunia. I've asked everyone except for Sniffles and Flaky. Have you seen either of them today? Were they with Giggles or Petunia?"

Flippy paused and considered what to tell his friend. It wouldn't be wise to send the rabbit off to see Flaky, he thought. It had been a few hours since he left the campground and he wasn't sure if Flaky was still 'busy' with things. It could be dangerous if Cuddles happened upon the female doing something she wasn't supposed to.

"I saw Flaky this morning," Flippy lied – well, technically, it wasn't a lie, "when I was taking my regular walks. She was out in the campgrounds. She told me…" Flippy thought. No doubt that Flaky would also deny any knowledge on her victims' whereabouts. "She said that she and the others were supposed to meet at the grounds, but they never came. So I guess she hasn't seen them either."

Cuddles frowned and rubbed his pink slippers against each other. "That's too bad," Cuddles said. "I really wanted to play with Giggles today…" The rabbit blushed lightly and nervously smoothed the creamy fur on his chest. Flippy raised a brow and the younger Happy Tree Friend's blush became deeper. "Anyways, if you see either of them come and tell me." And with that the rabbit fled to find another playmate.

Flippy smirked and adjusted the hat on his head as he continued down the road. He would never really understand the affections a young man grew for a younger woman. It had never happened to him, and after five years fighting in wars, it wasn't a surprise that Flippy didn't have a romantic bone in his body. Although, if he remembered correctly, he did have some kind of affair with one or two of the nurses…

A deep red blush stained Flippy's green cheeks and he rubbed his large eyes. The memory was a fuzzy one – hopefully it was something he had done while under the influence of his darker half.

Back to more important matters. Flaky. What to do, what to do?

Flippy let his body wander as he thought. Flaky was probably done killing Petunia and Giggles – assuming that's what she'd done – and it would most likely take a few hours for the two of them to show up. The best thing for Flippy to do was hang around the hospital-tree until the two girls were reborn. After that he could ask them a few questions about what had happened – maybe even, perhaps, how and where Flaky had killed them.

But that was only assuming Flaky had even killed them. She had been very careful when knocking them out that they didn't die. Was Flaky up to something more? Flippy couldn't really think of anything the porcupine could do to satisfy her… revenge.

Flippy let out a long yawn and grumbled. The colder seasons always brought with them the stale need to huddle up for months. It happened to a lot of the Happy Tree Friends. Hibernation wasn't needed because everyone could get their own food during the cold months. But it was a hard instinctual habit to break, and usually everyone simply slowed down during the winter. They didn't hibernate, but they ate less and slept more, to humor their body's cravings.

Leaves were falling into the road from the arching trees flanking them. Warm, earthy colors were everywhere. The scent of pine needles and autumn berries drifted lazily on a crisp breeze, and it helped to ease Flippy's wired mind. The bear stopped and took a deep breath, letting the warm sunlight hit him through a hole in the flimsy canopy.

Flippy decided to go to the hospital anyway. Even if Petunia and Giggles didn't show up (he hoped that would be the case), he still needed to talk to Sniffles about the waste Flaky had fallen in. It was obvious that it did something to her after during or after she died. What that was, Flippy had no idea, but Sniffles might.

Flippy didn't want Sniffles knowing about the problem with Flaky, though. It wasn't that he didn't trust Sniffles…well… okay, maybe it was. Flippy didn't know the anteater well enough to tell him exactly what Flaky was doing or how she had changed. Flippy had no idea how Sniffles might react to the news, and Flippy needed complete control over how he went about fixing it.

The war veteran continued on, crushing dead leaves beneath his forepaws. The breeze ruffled the hem of his camouflage jacket as Flippy left the trees and entered the tiny clearing in which the hospital-tree stood.

The hospital-tree – obviously – was very tall, thick and hollow. The inside was about four stories and each floor was a slightly different circular shape. There was a fifth 'floor' but that was the attic, where Sniffles kept most of the supplies that could go bad in jars and packages. Fruits, herbs, ground berries, spices, other plants and medicines that weren't used often but were very important for serious injury. Flippy had to give the anteater kudos – if Happy Tree Valley wasn't cursed, there would probably be no deaths with a hospital like this.

The leaves of the canopy grew on wide, long branches that shadowed a good nine yards of the clearing around the hospital-tree. The leaves were turning brilliant reds, yellows and purples, with specks of green here and there. A rainbow of leaves were scattered all around, nested in the still long green grass. Flippy calmly walked through and headed for the tree.

But he was alarmed to see Flaky walking out of the large double doors of the tree. His body instinctively froze. But Flippy couldn't run away. She'd already seen him – such action would lead to strong suspicion.

_Confront her. Act normal. Try to get some information – do_ not _blow your cover._

Flippy forced a smile and walked over to Flaky, who waved back at him. "Hey Flaky! What are you doing at the hospital-tree? I hope nothing happened."

Flaky smiled and held her hands behind her back. "Not much. Sniffles got in an accident and asked me to help with it. He's not too badly hurt – he'll be fine in a day or two. And then we're going…"

Flippy kept his smile on, and now he was actually a little glad. Was Flaky spilling information? "Going…?"

Flaky's blush was visible even with her red fur. She let her eyes look around Flippy's head and at the ground, but not in his eyes. Finally, she looked up and muttered softly, "We're going on a date…"

"I'm sorry, could you please repeat that?"

"I said we're going to go on a date. When he gets better, I mean. Sniffles and I."

For some reason this news didn't make Flippy feel very good. Was it because a 'date' meant an inevitable ambush for Sniffles? Despite his irrational discomfort, Flippy prodded. "Oh. That's good; I'd never thought you'd be the one to ask anyone out on a date. So… when is your date?" Flippy didn't know if this was a normal kind of question. He had no experience with dates, his own or otherwise.

"When Sniffles feels better. And I know. I surprised myself! But I like Sniffles – he's kind and smart and he never gets exasperated with my shyness…"

Flippy's mind frown deepened. He didn't like Flaky's words. But he had no idea why they bothered him.

"That's… nice," he forced himself to say. "Sniffles is cool. I was actually going to ask him something about… uh…" Uh oh. Think of something!

"I was going to ask Sniffles about clouds." Wait…clouds?

"Clouds?" Flaky asked doubtfully, as if she hadn't heard Flippy right. The bear paused and then nodded his head uneasily. "Yeah… clouds… I wanted to know why clouds are… white and… poofy?"

There was a silence between them, an awkward one.

Flaky scratched her head, unsettling the dandruff trapped between her quills.

Flippy just stood there, like some kind of dork or something.

"Okay." Flaky patted Flippy's shoulder in a gesture that he recognized as deep, pitying sympathy. Then she walked away.

Flippy slapped his face in annoyance. Clouds? Where had that come from? And out of all the complicated, scientific things he could have said (or made up) about clouds, he came up with 'white and poofy'. He shouldn't have skipped breakfast.

He also faced another problem. Sniffles was injured? How badly? He had forgotten to ask Flaky. If that was the case, Flippy probably shouldn't bother the anteater – it would be smarter to catch Sniffles in a better mood if there were questions to be asked.

Flippy sighed. This was all so complicated. And he had thought his war days were over.

**Flaky POV**

Patches of quivering shadows darkened Flaky's red fur as the female strode down the dirt path back to her home. Her encounter with Flippy had been… interesting, to say the least. He seemed uneasy.

Half of Flaky's brain was a little worried about him. He looked exhausted. His eyes had been pinkish – she knew it wasn't just her imagination – and the fur around his forehead had been ruffled, most likely from rubbing at it, which something Flippy did when he was unhappy or worried about something. Maybe she was just being paranoid – it had only been two days, but Flaky missed her friends. She didn't want revenge. She just wanted to hang out with someone other than herself. Her other self.

The other half of Flaky was feeling a mixture of amusement, irritation and slight admiration. It seemed that her hunch may have been correct – that Flippy was wary of her actions. She saw his face when she had taken the idol from his hands. It was the face of someone who knew something they shouldn't. But her suspicious still weren't completely confirmed. Flippy only looked guilty; more evidence would be needed before any kind of drastic measures were issued.

It wasn't like Flippy – it wasn't as if the two sides of Flaky were completely different. They were the same person. It was more like the original Flaky was trapped beneath a transparent skin, and sometimes that skin would take over. It could make her do things she didn't want to, but at the same time all actions were her own choice. Deep down Flaky knew that the monster she was becoming was the thing that used to be under the skin. Now they had just switched places.

It was a scary thing, knowing that while you would never do these kinds of things in real life, that you were capable of them. And now Flaky _was _doing those things, and to her friends no less. She was surprised and disturbed at the amount of malevolence she had within her. Was this how everyone was on the inside? Was everyone just a thin mask of skin made to hide what they truly are?

A scary thought.

Flaky stepped back into the light and shaded her eyes. It was past noon now, and everyone was up and about. Disco Bear was flirting with Lammy, who was cowering behind Mr. Pickles, or at least attempting to do so. Handy was with Mime, trying to fix the deer's broken… something. Flaky couldn't tell. It was invisible.

The Mole was running a stand on his porch, selling beautiful paintings that made Flaky question if he had actually done them himself. She could see Lifty and Shifty reach through the porch railings and snatch some of the merchandise.

It was Lumpy that interested Flaky most. He was dressed in a detectives costume, stupid hat and pipe included. An over-sized magnifying glass wielded within his left hand, Lumpy's spine was arched downward as his face stared down into the glass, which was about half an inch from the ground. Flaky watched in remote dullness as the moose kept running into things like polls, walls and other Friends. Cuddles was following closely behind. The rabbit had managed to hold a hopeful air around him while keeping skepticism plain on his face.

Flaky was about to continue on when the rabbit caught sight of her. He scampered quickly across the dry dirt and skidded to a halt before her. "Hey Flaky," he said. Behind him Flaky could see Lumpy walk over Disco Bear, giving Lammy a window of opportunity. The lamb wisely made her escape.

"Hi Cuddles," Flaky replied. This was one of the only up-sides about the situation: it gave Flaky a new-found confidence she never knew she had. She didn't stutter anymore, and things didn't scare her as much as they used to. Actually, Flaky had realized that things really weren't as bad as she had perceived them to be before.

"Hey, did you ever meet up with Giggles? Or Petunia?"

"Meet up?"

"I've been looking for Giggles all morning, but she and Petunia are gone. I've asked everyone except for Sniffles – Lumpy told me he got hurt yesterday. Something about ants."

Flaky nodded. "What do you mean 'meet up'?"

"Didn't you ask them to go camping with you?"

Flaky stood up straighter and set a hand on her side. "Yeah. Who told you that?"

"Flippy. He said that you were going to see them this morning but they never showed up. Did you end up seeing them?"

Flaky's eyes narrowed, but she set her gaze to the right, so that Cuddles wouldn't feel threatened. "I see."

"Yeah. Flippy said he saw you this morning and that you were at the campgrounds waiting for them, but that they never came."

Flaky nodded and scratched her scalp. She had to keep her claws from unsheathing. Now she was positive. Flippy knew something, and he obviously didn't want anyone else looking into it. And from the way it sounded, he didn't want anyone looking into her either. Flaky felt an uneasy burning sensation in her stomach. Was it anger? Or apprehension?

"So, _have _you seen them?"

Flaky forced her muscles to relax. Then she smiled warmly at Cuddles. "Yeah. I bumped into them on my way back home. They had dropped something in the river that runs behind my stump and tried to get it. Anyways, we met up along the river and decided to just head to my house. Do you wanna come over? I don't think the others will mind – I just had to visit Sniffles to help him out with his injuries."

"Ah, yeah! Lemme just call off my hound. Hey, Lumpy!"

The blue moose raised his head, only to bang it on a low branch. The moose hadn't seemed to have felt it, though. "I, I haven't found anythin' yet, Cuddles… I'll keep lookin'…"

"'S'cool Lumpy! I know where they are. You can stop looking. Thanks anyway!"

The moose just stared dumbly at Cuddles for a second before nodding, smiling, and walking back towards his home.

Cuddles shrugged at Flaky. "I'll never get Lumpy. C'mon, let's go."

Flaky nodded and took Cuddles's hand, leading him through the trees and eventually coming up to her house. Flaky opened the door and asked Cuddles to wait on the couch. "Giggles and Petunia are downstairs – I just want to tell them you're here to see if they want to come up."

"Okay."

"Do you want any orange juice?"

"No thanks."

"Alright; wait here for a second."

Flaky walked over to the stairway. What Cuddles hadn't noticed was that a new, square wooden door had been placed over the stairway, which was locked. The porcupine reached back into here quills and pulling out a long, red painted key. She unlocked the door but did not open it. Looking over her shoulder she saw Cuddles wasn't looking in her direction. Flaky lifted the door. The wood was about an inch thick, to hold in any kind of sound. Flaky listened carefully. Right now, she couldn't hear anything. That was good.

"Alright," she said, and motioned Cuddles over when he looked. "They said its okay. They want to stay downstairs – they started a game of cards. You can play."

"Cool!" Cuddles hopped over the back of the couch and ran over to Flaky, excitedly helping her lift the door, seemingly oblivious to the heftiness of the wood or the faint sounds of weeping coming from below. He also didn't notice Flaky's hand wrap around the back of his neck.

"Go on down Cuddles. Giggles is waiting for you." And then she pushed.

Cuddles's fall was a planned one – Flaky made sure to shove him not only forward, but slightly downward so that his head bumped against the top stair. Cuddles tumbled downwards, his shouts of surprised stuck in his throat as he hit the compacted dirt floor. Flaky's eyes glowed with pleasure as she pulled the trap door shut.

Automatic lights flickered on, sprinkling the dirt room with cheap artificial light. The glow turned Cuddles's fur a sickly yellow-green color as he lay in a small puddle of blood that seeped from his skull. His eyes were half closed, the pupils shrinking in the sudden light. The rabbit didn't seem capable of moving his body yet.

Flaky stepped over Cuddles's motionless body as if he were a wire chord and grinned at the wall to her far left. "See? I told you I'd bring you a friend."


	7. Chapter 6

**The following chapter might be choppy, and that's because I think it's time to start ending this. I mean, it's not gonna be finished in the next chapter, but I'm going to try and close this up. So this chapter may be a bit… everywhere, but you get it. By the by, check out my new Poll when you get the chance!**

**Before I start, I feel I need to address a review.**

**Kigakari: That last part of chapter two was actually inspired by a song called "The End," by Blue October. They're one of my favorite bands. I was actually going to put a few parts of the song in the story, but I felt that would be cheating, so I modified the last paragraph and only kept that last line, which is the last line of the song. It's my favorite part, too. I was going to send you a private message, but you had it disabled… Thanks for your review, anyway, and I hope you keep reading.**

**Chapter 6**

**Torture**

Visible in the damp glow, Giggles and Petunia could be seen hanging against the dirt wall. Their wrists and ankles looked as if they were tied, but there were no ropes to hold them up. It seemed that the two Happy Tree Friends were simply hovering in the air.

Petunia responded first, raising her head to glare at Flaky. It took Giggles a moment to raise her head – that tiny injury Flaky had given her earlier that day had been a bit more painful than it looked. The chipmunk's eyes grew wide at the sight of Cuddles lying at the foot of the wooden stairs. "Oh no, not Cuddles!"

"Let us down!" Petunia struggled against her invisible binds, but she could not get free.

Flaky didn't say anything, but the smile was gone from her face. She had spent the entire day before the ambush digging out her basement, and the rigorous labor had borne results. The room was three times as big as it had been, with excess dirt sitting in piles in the corners. Flaky even added rooms, small ones, which branched off from the main. A few tables sat here and there, and on their surfaces were the supplies Flaky had asked Giggles and Petunia to bring her. Flaky took a moment to let the dirt get between her toes, and to take a deep breath of the earthy scent. Flaky loved being below ground. It calmed her down – as calm as one could while being insane.

"Let us go!" Petunia shouted again. Flaky ignored the skunk and turned around, walking over to a shelf she had put into the dirt wall. The shelf was long and wooden, and on it were twenty clay figurines. Flaky grabbed the one on the far edge. It looked just like Cuddles, cream puff and all. Flaky slowly raised both of 'Cuddles's' hands above his head and then tied a tiny piece of string around the wrists. She did the same with his ankles.

Flaky settled the clay Cuddles back onto the shelf and turned her attention back to the real one. He was beginning to regain consciousness, though Flaky guessed he had had a concussion from the fall. Not waiting for him to regain control over his body, she grabbed his wrists and dragged the rabbit over to where the female Happy Tree Friends were watching in horror.

"Flaky, why are you doing this?" Giggles pleaded for an explanation, but Flaky gave none. She settled Cuddles down beside Giggles and returned back to her shelf of figures.

Once again taking Cuddles's doll, Flaky took the length of string she had left on his wrist bindings and tied the other end to a nail she had pushed into the wall. Fourteen other nails were waiting empty; Cuddles's was beside Giggles's.

The real rabbit began to gently float in the air, wrists and ankles still bound, he took a position that resembled his clay figure and floated beside Giggles, who stared at him with worry.

Flaky stood before them with her hands behind her back and grinned at their forlorn faces. "Hmm… Now I have three. It's not much… but it's a start."

"What do you want from us?" Petunia asked, her fiery stare burning the air around Flaky. The porcupine seemed to have some kind of force field, because she herself was unaffected. Instead Flaky dragged a clawed finger across her stomach in thought.

"What to do first…" Then Flaky walked into one of the other rooms. She came back out with a large, white dry erase board and three different colored markers. Where she had gotten it was anyone's guess. She set the board to Petunia's right, just in front of Giggles, and turned it slightly to face the skunk.

Pulling a ruler from behind her back, Flaky used it to draw long black lines down the board. She even measured the space between each line to make sure they were even. Petunia watched this in cautious interest. Why was Flaky measuring them? She knew the skunk was OCD – why was Flaky doing something that would benefit her?

And then Flaky did it. On the last line, just before it met the bottom of the board, she slightly tilted the ruler so that the line veered slightly to the left. Petunia's pupils shrunk drastically in size. Her breathing speed skyrocketed. "No, no, please fix it."

Flaky shook her head and dangled the marker tauntingly in front of Petunia's grey-blue eyes. Then she threw the marker over her shoulder. Petunia struggled but of course it was a futile effort. Then Flaky carefully reached over to Petunia and used a claw to break the string of her air-freshener necklace. The skunk twitched at the sound of it hitting the floor.

Flaky smirked and scooped up the necklace, looking at them all with mock sympathy. "I know it's not so good now, but in a few days, everyone's going to be joining the party! You'll have tons of company."

And so the days slowly went by, and as each morning awoke, another Happy Tree Friend was missing. And for each friend was their ideal punishment. On the first day after Cuddles's kidnapping, Flaky lured Nutty into her crypt using a super-sucker lollipop. The sugar-happy squirrel didn't stand any kind of chance. Once restrained, Flaky used his voodoo doll to rip out the sticky candy from his soiled fur. It took a few hairs, but the squirrel didn't seem to mind it much – he was still licking his special lollipop. It wasn't until the treat was gone, and that the squirrel noticed that he was trapped by chains and an invisible binds that he finally realized something was wrong.

It took another five minutes for the loss of sugar to register within him. Nutty's eyes flickered around the room, looking for anything sugary. But there was nothing. Nutty didn't yet panic. He sat down on the floor, licking his fingers, which still had the remains of the lollipop on them. After a few minutes of that Nutty had not only licked his fingers, but every other spot where candy residue remained on his fur. Once all of that was gone, Nutty lay down on his stomach and took a short nap.

But when Nutty was awake he was still chained, and now there was something better than a lollipop. Exactly three yards away from Nutty was a plate, and on that plate was a brownie covered in hot fudge, sprinkled in what looked like three different colors of Pixie-Stick sugar, and it all had a tiny lollipop sticking out of the top. Nutty's mouth watered – his teeth shuddered at the thought of biting into _that_ mess.

So Nutty stood and tried to walk over to it, but the chains held him back. At first it didn't seem like such a big deal. He couldn't be kept in the chains for long, and his SDE (sugar-deprivation effect) had given him the strength to get to goodies before. But no one came. As Nutty's wired mind began to comprehend his situation, his struggles became ever more frantic, and eventually Nutty was so absorbed in pulling against his chains that he never noticed Flaky's head peek in through the round doorway. He had been put in a separate room from the others. Petunia was still obsessing about the lopsided mark, and by then Cuddles had regained consciousness, and Giggles was afraid he might have had a concussion from the fall. She was trying to keep him awake, talking to him and yelling to keep him from dozing off.

Two hours later, Nutty was clawing at his scalp, staring at the chocolate death with wide, pleading eyes. Every few moments he would make a mad dash at it, as if the chains would just vanish, but he was always jerked back at the throat. Much to Flaky's amusement.

The next two to get captured were Lifty and Shifty. The twin raccoons had been stupid enough to fall for Flaky's 'my-purse-is-hanging-on-such-a-thin-strap-please-take-it' lure, and soon both of them were underground.

Flaky tied them up together and stuck them in the same room as Petunia, Giggles and Cuddles. She did basically the same to them as she had done to Nutty, except instead of a brownie on the opposite side of the room, it was one of her most expensive looking rings (real diamond, about 8 karat gold). The two of them spent all day trying to get at it while their bodies, wrists and ankles were tied. They spent most of their day arguing and trying to bite each other's ears off.

Next was Toothy. Flaky lured Toothy in the way she did Cuddles, and tortured him using pain. She drove long needles into his voodoo doll's stomach, forehead, and heart. Toothy hung beside Petunia, moaning loudly and breathing heavily, trying to get rid of the nausea, migraine and heartburn. Eventually Flaky also put needles in Nutty's legs, as to make his effort of obtaining the brownie not only impossible but also incredibly painful.

Mime came down next, and his torture was easy. Flaky pretended she had trapped Mime in a room filled with man eating dogs. Mime clung to the shelf in the wall, staring fearfully down at the invisible canines that were trying to rip his flesh apart.

The Mole came down a day after Mime, and his torture, in Flaky's opinion, was the worst. She had created his clay figure with a small cloth covering his eyes, as to symbolize his non-existent eyesight. She tied The Mole up and let him on the ground in front of a shining lamp. Then she removed the small blindfold from the eyes of the doll.

It took a moment, but eventually The Mole let out a shout and shook his head in pain. Tears fell from behind his dark glasses and The Mole was forced to push himself backwards to escape from the pain of the light. Flaky giggled at his pain and replaced the blindfold. She repeated the process once every hour, and each hour brought with it the same twisted delight.

As Flaky picked off each Tree Friend, the town began to grow quieter, and eventually Flippy knew he had to do something fast, or else everyone would have been dragged down into the lair of Flaky's rage.

**Flippy POV**

It had been nine days since Flippy last spoke to Flaky, and already most of the friends were gone from sight. The only ones Flippy ever saw anymore were Handy, Splendid and Russell, and all of them were antisocial, so they never thought twice about the lack of people running around. Flippy knew that Sniffles was also still safe. He needed to see the anteater.

Flippy left his home and ran to Sniffles house – the anteater lived in the basement of the hospital-tree, since it was usually quiet there at night and he could easily keep an eye on any patients. Flippy walked into the field, but quickly retreated when he saw a familiar red figure walk out of the hospital doors.

Flaky was speaking with Sniffles. The two of them were smiling and laughing, and Flaky kept making gestures to Sniffles's nose. The anteater seemed to blush and say something, to which Flaky laughed again. The entire scene was hued by the dark orange colors of closing daytime. Flippy's distrust resurfaced.

_Can Sniffles be trusted? Does he know something about the kidnappings? Why hasn't the anteater been taken yet? Is he with the enemy?_

Eventually Flaky departed and left Sniffles standing on the steps. The male kept gazing in her direction long after she was gone. Flippy saw there was something in the anteater's eyes, but it wasn't familiar to him and for some other reason, he didn't like the look.

The war bear slowly stepped back into the clearing, making his way over to Sniffles's still form. The blue animal didn't notice until Flippy had taken the first step towards him. "Oh, hi Flippy."

"Sniffles. I see you were talking to Flaky."

Sniffles blushed again and rubbed his head. "Yeah."

"It seemed like an interesting conversation, if you don't mind my prying."

"We were just discussing… our… uh…"

"Date?"

Sniffles looked surprised. "How did you knew she asked me out on a – a date?"

Flippy shrugged his shoulders. "She told me a couple of days ago. No big deal."

"No big deal? I'm going on a date with Flaky!"

"Yeah, congratulations; but there's something…"

"I mean, she asked me out. I'd never thought Flaky would ask me out on a date!"

"Listen, Sniffles –"

"It's fantastic... I've never been on a date before. Do you think - ?"

"Sniffles, listen, before I change my mind."

Sniffles stopped halfway in his sentence, and Flippy continued on before registering a reaction. "I think – no, I know – that something is wrong with Flaky. She's been different ever since she fell in the radioactive waste. And it's not for the better… I think she only asked you out on a date because she wants to use or hurt you. You have to cancel."

Flippy stopped and finally paid some attention to Sniffles's face. Throughout his outburst, the anteater's features had gone from excited to curious to angry in a matter of seconds. "What do you mean 'she's using me'?"

"I mean, she's only trying to hurt you, and that's why she asked you out."

Sniffles stood silently for a while. Flippy stared down at him, hoping for a positive reaction.

"Why are you doing this?"

Flippy blinked. "Doing what?"

"Lying to me?"

Flippy couldn't understand. Sniffles didn't believe him? "What do you mean? I'm telling the truth."

Sniffles sighed, taking off his glasses and whipping them with his wrist. Putting them back on his face, he glared at Flippy. "Of course you're lying! Flaky would never do something like that. She's not that kind of person, and you know it. I don't know why you care about us going on a date. But don't tell lies about someone you don't even know."

Flippy growled, rubbing at his forehead with his knuckles in aggravation. "I'm not lying! Haven't you noticed how everyone's gone? She's been picking them off like sitting ducks – tell me you haven't noticed that!"

Sniffles shook his head in defiance. "Stop it! You just don't want me to go out with Flaky."

Flippy rolled his eyes. "And why wouldn't I?"

"Because… because you probably like Flaky too!"

Flippy didn't know how to respond to that. He took the awkward silence as a chance to think it over. Sniffles liked Flaky? He guessed that much was obvious enough – if not obvious than it was expected. It made sense for Sniffles to be attracted to Flaky; she was smart, pretty, tolerant and mature. But why would Sniffles ever suspect Flippy of liking her? Flippy thought about it. He did like Flaky, but not really the way Sniffles did, at least he thought he didn't. Flippy enjoyed the times he had spent with Flaky, even if the more recent occurrences involved information gathering. Flaky was kind and forgiving and, Flippy realized, very emotional, which, in different circumstances, made her a better person. Flaky shouldn't have bottled up her anger, but it also showed she wasn't one to lash out or say hurtful things for stupid reasons. Another thing Flippy liked about the porcupine was that she was really very clever. Though it took until now for it to really show, Flaky knew how to handle things, how to turn the tables and make things go her own way.

It didn't make much sense, but in a way, Flippy _was_ attracted to Flaky. It goes without saying that the female was actually very cute and charming, even if she herself probably didn't have any idea about it.

Sniffles took the bear's contemplative silence as verification. "I knew it! You do like her!"

Flippy forced himself to concentrate. "No! At least, not like you do. I don't want you to not go out with her because I'm jealous; Flaky's dangerous. Haven't you been listening?"

Sniffles had by now convinced himself that his conclusion was correct, and unfortunately for the both of them, he didn't want to listen to any sort of reason that might be coming from Flippy. "I don't care if you think I'm not good enough for her. She chose me, not you. Get over yourself! Just because your some war bear doesn't mean you can get everything you want. Besides, why would Flaky even consider liking someone like you? You're a post-dramatic mess; you hurt everyone around you at the sight of every little thing. No one could love a freak like you!"

It all came out in a short burst fueled with hurt and anger, and Sniffles huffed before turning away and slamming the hospital door shut.

Flippy stood there, his dusk's shadow stretching out below him, looking back with wounded pity. It was surprising how much Sniffles's words had made his heart ache.


	8. Chapter 7

**This one is REALLY short. It was just... difficult to write. I mean, ah! But I enjoyed doing the end. It was all that kept me going...**

**Please enjoy and please review. I love my fans. Mwah, mwah! - This is me being self-absorbed.**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

**Flaky Snaky **

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

Oh gosh.

OH GOD.

Sniffles sat stiffly before a mirror hanging nailed to the hallow trunk of the hospital-tree. He was staring at his reflection, his eyes wide, staring at a single random strand of hair sticking from his scalp.

It.

Would.

Not.

Stay.

Down.

Sniffles's eye twitched slightly.

The anteater had tried everything - gel, spray, clips, bobby pins, tape, _glue_, but nothing had worked. Sniffles dared to check the clock. Seven forty-five. Flaky would be there in five minutes.

Thinking hastily, Sniffles looked around his desk. All there was to use was useless paper and pencils, a protractor, two rulers and a half empty bag of chips. He grabbed another handful of chips and crunched thoughtfully. He searched his drawers but still found nothing. Panicked, Sniffles threw himself onto his bed and checked under the made-up sheets and pillows. He inspected the spaces and cracks in the walls of his room but nothing anywhere was useful. Eventually he spotted something shiny and sharp beneath his bed. Falling to his knees Sniffles reached underneath and pulled out his scissors.

Smiling, Sniffles went back to his desk and held the scissors up. He concentrated. One careful snip would do it. Just one... little...

A knocking on the door. Someone called his name though the thin wood. Sniffles flinched - his hand jerked and he missed the hair, instead closing the twin blades on his small blue ear. Sniffles held in a cry and threw the scissors to the ground. Blood was already running down his face. He clenched his ear and called to the door, "One minute, please!"

Sniffles ran over to his sink but the water was murky green. He winced. No way was he cleaning his ear with _that _gunk. The anteater looked around. A large hat was sitting at the floor of his closet; it had been a gift from Lumpy, thought the moose had bought it in his own measurements and not Sniffles's.

Not knowing what else to do, Sniffles scooped up the tricolored hat and plopped it on his head. He ran over o the door and opened it.

Flaky didn't look much different, but she was wearing a bracelet and her quills had been pushed down, so that they looked cleaner and smooth. Even her standard dandruff wasn't as bad as usual, and only a few flakes were left. Her fur was glossy with grooming and the scent of strawberries was floating around Flaky's body. Sniffles breathed in deeply. Perfume. Flaky was wearing perfume for their date!

Flippy's words rang deep in Sniffles's mind, but the anteater quickly banished them. That bear didn't have any idea what he was talking about. Standing before Sniffles was Flaky - pretty, kind, innocent Flaky. He couldn't even imagine her thinking of doing the things Flippy accused her of. Sniffles knew deep down Flippy was just jealous of their budding relationship; he wasn't happy, so he didn't want anyone else to be happy.

Sniffles had realized that his words might have cut deeply into Flippy. What he had said was cruel. But Flippy's accusation hurt Sniffles as well. The bear had been suggesting that Flaky was too good for Sniffles, that the porcupine would never be interested in him unless it was to take advantage of him. And Sniffles really liked Flaky. The thought of her only using him gave the anteater a stomach ache.

Flaky liked him. Flaky wanted to spend time with him. _Him_. The brainy, solitary, not-so-nice nerd. His heart was racing.

"Sniffles? Are you alright?"

Sniffles nodded and smiled at Flaky. She was holding her hands in front of her, nervously looking at Sniffles and then at the ground. Her foot was rubbing against the floor in anxity.

So adorable.

"I'm fine. You look… great, Flaky." Flaky blushed and smiled shyly at the anteater. Then she looked worried. "Sniffles, your hat has a red spot on it. Is that blood?"

Sniffles's hand went up to the hat. He felt a growing dampness spreading. He chuckled nervously, but didn't stop Flaky when she reached up and removed the hat. Gasping, she threw the hat aside and pushed Sniffles back into the room, kicking the door closed with a foot. "Sniffles, what did you do to your ear?"

The anteater shrugged. "Barber mishap?" Flaky shook her head and forced Sniffles back into his desk chair.

And so began Sniffles's first date. He'd cut half his ear off and his date was tending to his self inflicted wounds. Flaky was wrapping the ear with bandages. Sniffles spent this time glaring at that strand of hair, which was still sticking up. It curved like a tiny crescent moon on his forehead. He patted it but it only insisted on sticking back up again. "Stupid hair."

"Hm?"

"The hair. I was trying to cut it and that's how I cut my ear."

Flaky let out a round of hysterical giggles which she shortly hushed. "Y-y-you cut your e-ear trying to cut a s-s-strand of h-h-hair? Really?"

Sniffles blushed. "Yeah…"

"Oh, Sniffles! You're so funny. I don't care if everyone else thinks you're a stick in the mud."

"Gee, thanks – what, what?"

"Anyways," Flaky continued, setting down the Aid Kit and resting her arms on Sniffles's head. "I kinda like the hair. It's cute. Do you wanna go now?"

"Yeah, sure."

So off they went. Sniffles and Flaky spent most of their time walking around, talking, nothing unlike that of any other first date. And as the sun set and the stars twinkled, Sniffles took hold of Flaky's hand and led her down a path into the forest. They were still within boundaries; Sniffles took her to the mouth of a cave and led her inside. A greenish glow pulsed far below.

Flaky stared. "Woah… Sniffles, this is… beautiful…"

Around them were glowing stones and diamonds. Sniffles smiled to himself as Flaky slowly walked down the stone steps to examine them closer. Their glow lit nearly every inch of the cavern. Further down was the reverberating sound of an underground stream. "Sniffles, what is this place?"

Sniffles made his way after her, making sure not to step on any sharp rocks. "I found this place a few years ago. It's nearly right underneath the town. I didn't want to tell anyone about it, though."

Flaky ran a finger down one of the stalagmites. "Why?"

Sniffles shrugged, standing at her side. "I don't know. I didn't want anyone exploiting it. It's pretty – I probably wouldn't' be able to come here if everyone was playing here all the time."

Flaky nodded in understanding. The knelt down and picked up a rock. "Isn't this…?"

"Yeah, it's Kryptonut. This is where they form."

Flaky passed the rock back and forth between her hands. "Isn't Splendid really allergic to these? Like, he gets really sick when he's around them? Isn't it dangerous that they're here?"

Sniffles nodded. "That's why Splendid doesn't come into town much. He gets super weak when he's around them. As long as he's not in the town for too long they don't take any serious effect." The anteater sat down and Flaky settled beside them. They talked some more, enjoying each other's company and the light given to them by this magnificent spectacle.

But eventually Flaky stretched. It was quickly getting late. Sniffles sighed and led her out of the cavern. Then Flaky took the lead and Sniffles ended up at her house. His cheeks darkened in color. "So, I guess this is here our date ends…"

Flaky looked sad. "Oh no! Please, come in. I actually have some cake – leftover from a few days ago. I've gotten into the habit of baking lately. It's probably why you haven't seen me lately." Sniffles allowed himself to be pulled inside. It was dark inside, and Flaky didn't bother to turn on a light. She weaved skillfully past the furniture and into her kitchen, fishing the cake from her fridge. Sniffles awkwardly took his seat on the couch and waited for his date to return. He'd never been in her house before…

The sat and ate. The cake was chocolate and surprisingly Sniffles enjoyed it. He wasn't one for sweets. They ate in silence but Sniffles was pleased at the fact Flaky seemed to be leaning against him as she ate.

When they were finished, Sniffles than expected Flaky to bid him goodnight, but the porcupine surprised him once again. She stretched, wrapping her arms around neck and said, "Sniffles, I hope you don't mind – I have a fondness for cuddling." Sniffles's blush was clearly visible and the female got a laugh out of it.

"I-I don't mind."

Something about Flaky's voice and face had changed. Like a flash, she wasn't shy anymore, but seductive, attractive, deadly. "As long as you don't mind…" The porcupine dragged a finger across Sniffles's chest and sent shivers up and down his nose. "I-I-I-"

"Sniffles, listen," Flaky interrupted. "I know I'm not usually like this. But, something about you…" Her voice dropped as she slid her wandering finger down his nose until she got to the lips of his mouth. She used the same finger to lift them closer to her own face. The anteater was sweating heavily. "I – Flaky – I mean – what?"

They kissed. Sniffles froze, his face red hot, the rest of his body draining of blood. Flaky was kissing him! On the lips… On their first date…

They didn't release. It was a still, awkward kiss but neither of them pulled back. They were waiting for the other to flinch and break it. But then a strange sensation could be felt against Sniffles's lips, and it wasn't just Flaky's. Was that… her tongue!

This was going too fast, much too fast for the fainthearted Sniffles. He attempted to get away, but Flaky chased after him, opening his mouth and entering it with a growl of dominance. Sniffles was pinned down between Flaky and the couch cushions. He struggled to get another breath but after another second he tasted something like blood in his mouth.

Flaky growled again but this was in delight, and the porcupine pulled away from Sniffles, her teeth clenched tightly on his long tongue. The anteater whimpered in pain and was forced to sit up so that she didn't pull on it too hard. Blood was dripping from the bite marks. Flaky wore a wide, toothy grin on her face, scarlet eyes dancing. Sniffles cringed and tried to back away but was stopped by the arm of the couch.

Flaky grabbed hold of Sniffles's tongue with a clawed hand and took it out of her mouth while keeping a firm grip. She then drove her foot into Sniffles's stomach. He moaned in pain. Flaky used both hands to pull out the rest of Sniffles's incredibly long tongue, and once she was done getting it all she wrapped most of it around his neck with a laugh. Sniffles attempted to break free but a hiss and a scratch convinced him to keep still.

The female nodded in satisfaction and, holding the other end of Sniffles's tongue, walked off of the couch and over to the trap door. She opened it with one hand and ignored Sniffles's choking gasps as she walked into the darkness, where moans and wails of pain were floating. Her bloody lips grew into another smile.

"Flaky Snaky, lies and smoke. Kissed the boy and made him choke. No more kids came out to play; she'd locked all up yesterday."


	9. Chapter 8

**Sorry this chapter took a while. My computer kept exploding… It's also kinda short, but don't fret, the next chapter should be pretty long. Ish. Maybe…**

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**Chapter 8**

**Infiltration **

Flaky tied Sniffles in the middle of the underground room, knotting his tongue around a hook she had installed before their 'date'. The anteater was hanging, his eyes downcast, tears quickly forming at the edges. Flaky rolled her eyes at him and hastily whipped off her mouth. "Blech! As if anyone would want to kiss someone whose mouth is a foot from their face. Disgusting."

Flaky glared at Sniffles for causing her discomfort and then she smiled again. "But I decided that, because you were such easy prey I would give you a present." The porcupine reached behind a table and shoved the jar she had in Sniffles's face. The anteater's eyes widened and then he struggled to get a hold of the jar, but Flaky held it away from him. "No, no, Sniffles. I've also decided that because you had that disgusting crush on me," Flaky took this moment go make a gag noise, "that you do not get to have the ants. I just wanted to show you how easy it was to catch them. A feat you have failed to accomplish on a number of occasions, usually ending in your own death. I find that pathetic." Flaky settled the jar on a table. The family of ants inside pounded on the glass but could not escape.

Sniffles stared at them in depression. He had been tricked, humiliated, ridiculed, taunted, bitten, kicked, dragged, and choked with his own tongue. And Flaky, the girl he'd fallen for, had just ripped his heart out and crushed it in her fist.

Flaky leaned on her arm and looked down at her other prisoners. Petunia: still obsessing. She was also beginning to stink. Flay considered moving her to her own room. Lifty and Shifty had gotten about halfway across the room when they realized Flaky had also tethered them to the wall with her voodoo doll. They couldn't get any further but continued to punish each other for the irritation. Lifty had thrown Shifty's hat away from them, causing the raccoon to lose his temper and shred his brother's ears. Both of the thieves had bleeding ears and foreheads. Mime was still hanging on the wall. He shivered in fear at the invisible threat barking at him from below. Flaky checked in on Nutty. The squirrel snapped up, charging at Flaky as she opened the door only go get pulled back by his chain. The brownie had by now gotten crusty and cold, but Nutty didn't seem to care. He continued to reach for the sugary treat as if it was the only thing that existed now.

The Mole was sitting –invisibly bound- before the resting Toothy. He was staring into space, but Flaky saw he still had tears in his eyes from his last session. She giggled darkly to herself and observed her last two prisoners.

Giggles had succeeded in keeping Cuddles awake, and the two of them were quietly talking to each other. Flaky frowned, noticing how they hung their heads closer together, how Giggles would hold that worrying tone in her voice while Cuddles's held warm affection. They weren't suffering like the others – Flaky almost didn't understand why. But she did. They had each other, and that numbed the pain. As long as they had each other, they wouldn't break.

Flaky huffed and dug her claws into the table beside her. A fiery, slimy feeling gripped her heart and she stormed over to them. The two Happy Tree Friends noticed and quieted down as Flaky stood before them. The porcupine had made sure to grab their dolls.

"Let's play a game," Flaky said suddenly. Cuddles and Giggles gave each other a look. "I am going to ask you both questions," Flaky continued. "And if your answers are unsatisfactory, than you will get hurt."

The two nodded hesitantly and Flaky set down Cuddles's doll, holding Giggles's between her fingers. "Cuddles, answer me this question. What day is today?"

The rabbit blinked before moving his eyesight, thinking. "It's… a… Tuesday?"

"Wednesday," Flaky corrected. She then got a firm grip on the arm of Giggles's doll and pulled it off. The chipmunk screamed in reaction. Her own arm was still attached to her torso, but it didn't feel that way. Cuddles stared in horror as Giggles cried from the pain.

Flaky grinned and replaced Giggles with Cuddles. She held onto the rabbit's clay ear and said to Giggles, "What… is your favorite color?"

The chipmunk shrugged and muttered, "Blue," but then looked as if she regretted the answer. Hastily she said, "No, no, I mean yellow." Flaky hissed, shook her head and tore. This time it was Cuddles who shouted in pain. But he said, "Why… why only my ear…?"

"Because it doesn't hurt as much," Flaky said. "Giggles doesn't hurt you as much as when you answer a question wrong. Therefore, you both suffer from guilt – her from not feeling as if you're being treated equally and you from causing her so much pain." Flaky smiled sweetly at them. "See? Isn't this a fun game? Now, time for round two. Cuddles, what is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

**Flippy POV**

Flippy was running from something. He didn't know what, but he knew that he needed to be as far from it as possible.

The bear was running through murky darkness. It dragged at his feet like mud, trying to pull him down. The only option was to keep moving. He looked behind his shoulder. He couldn't see it, he never saw it, but he could feel it keeping up. It was right behind him, nipping at his heels.

He could see something in the darkness. A machete was sticking out of the ground. As Flippy ran he grabbed the handle of it, pulling it from the dark and continued to run with it.

He hit an invisible barrier. The bear pulled at it with his hand, pushed against it, but it wouldn't budge. He could feel the ominous force closing in on him. Flippy drove the point of the machete into the barrier. It opened up to light and he jumped in.

Flippy fell in the dirt. Sounds of gunshots and shouts of pain were all around him. The bear quickly stood up. The machete was gone – in its place was a rifle. The gun felt good in his hand. But the fear within him swelled. He was in the war again. His comrades lay around him, dead, or dying. Flippy looked around him in terror. He didn't want to be here. Not again.

A touch on his shoulder. Flippy turned to see himself. Evil Flippy was nodding at him, mouth set in a malicious grin. He jumped from the trench and attacked.

Flippy stood, frozen, in a world he thought he'd left behind. He looked up at the urine yellow sky and saw the black smoke flying into the air. A flash of light. An explosion.

All there was was fire.

Flippy shot upwards in his bed. He was breathing heavily, sweat sticking to his fur. He couldn't get enough air. Images of his dream still flickered against his eyes. Flippy ran to his bathroom and splashed water on his face, forcing himself to calm down.

That dream... He hadn't had it for a couple of months. Flippy had finally thought - nay, hoped - that it was gone for good. But why had his dream come back to haunt him? Flippy moaned and stumbled over to his shower, starting the water. Two days ago Flippy had told Sniffles about Flaky, and it was on that same day Flippy was torn apart. Sniffles... Flippy didn't care for the anteater. But what the friend had said still drove deeply inside. It made Flippy feel sick with self-contempt.

"She chose me, not you. Get over yourself! Just because your some war bear doesn't mean you can get everything you want. Besides, why would Flaky even consider liking someone like you? You're a post-dramatic mess; you hurt everyone around you at the sight of every little thing. No one could love a freak like you!"

Shrugging out of his jacket and hat, Flippy climbed into the shower. Hot bullets of water pelted him. He tried to relax. Showers usually made him calm and happy. But nothing could get rid of the icky feeling inside.

Flippy knew he was acting ridiculous. He shouldn't have just walked home to sulk about things. He should have followed them, caught Flaky in the act. But he was heavy with sadness.

After a few minutes, Flippy pulled himself out of the shower and dried himself off, getting dressed and sullenly heading outside. Flaky had probably gotten a hold of Sniffles and dragged him down by then. He needed to find a way to the others. It was obvious now she wasn't killing them, so she must have been keeping them captive. Flippy didn't know the exact details, but it couldn't be good.

He headed first to the hospital. Even if Sniffles wasn't there, he might be able to find some clues or evidence as to where exactly Flaky was keeping everyone. But the lobby was empty. Flippy went down the stairs to see if Sniffles was in his room. But the door was open and the room was empty. Flippy was alarmed to see a piece of ear lying on the floor. But the blood was dry, so it wasn't a recent wound. A quick look over the rest of the room didn't reveal anything else interesting.

But as Flippy was walking up the stairs, he heard the front door open. He instantly knelt down, keeping his head from sight. It wouldn't be too bad if it was Sniffles. But he highly doubted it. Ears perked, he waited for voice confirmation.

He listened closely, but all he could hear was her humming some tune over and over again. Eventually though she muttered aloud, "What is this stupid tune I have in my head?" Flippy slowly crawled higher up the steps. He could just see the top of Flaky's head. She was scratching her quills; flakes littered the floor around her feet. "Da da da, lala, hm hm hmm~" Flaky muttered lyrics, trying to remember a name or verse. As she moved about the lobby, she walked behind Sniffles's wooden desk. Flippy was forced to move up higher to keep a good eye on her.

The porcupine was holding some kind of clay figure in her hand. It strangely resembled Sniffles. She set the doll on his desk and continued to scratch her head in thought. "I must know it if I know the tune." Sighing, Flaky walked in another direction but flinched as something clonked onto the floor. Flippy risked being seen by pulling himself up past the lip of the stairs to see what it was. A large, rusty key painted red, a shade similar to Flaky's fur, had fallen from her person and was lying on the ground. Flippy knelt down again as Flaky picked it up. "Stupid key," she hissed. "I'm going to lose it at this rate…" She looked around, her gaze falling on a bookcase. She walked over to it and shoved the key deep between two thick books. "There. The door is locked, anyway. Now," Flaky grinned evilly, eyes sparkling, "Lumpy has a long overdue appointment." Snickering, Flaky continued to hum the song as she left the hospital-tree.

Flippy waited a few moments before standing and walking up the rest of the stairs. He frowned and then realized he'd gotten just the information he needed. At just the right time. Flaky was going to be gone for a while. That meant he'd have time to infiltrate her house, find the others and hopefully get them out safely before she even noticed. The bear went over to the bookshelf and rummaged around until he found the key. She'd left the key as well.

But as Flippy was about to leave he remembered something, turning to Sniffles's desk and picking up the little clay figurine of him. Had Flaky forgotten it, or deliberately left it? Flippy suddenly felt angry. Did she actually care for that stupid anteater? Enough to make a little doll of him? The thought, however irrational, made Flippy extremely upset. He growled, deep in his throat, and felt his head squeeze, his vision haze over. He held the clay figure in his hand and slowly crushed it in his fist. Stupid, stupid Sniffles. He crushed it tightly until it was a nearly flat lump of clay again.

Something was falling from the chunk. Tiny specs, like sand, seemed to be falling from the clay, crawling from its center. Suddenly Flippy's hand grew hot, his fingers itchy, and his bones were humming from an unknown source. The bear immediately threw down the clay as more of the strange red sand seeped out.

Enough distraction. He needed to get to the others.

Brushing off the sense of hazard the red sand made him feel, Flippy quickly made his way out of the hospital-tree and through the town. It didn't take too long to get to Flaky's house. He slowly approached, key in hand, eyes and ears open and alert. But she wasn't guarding outside, or inside, for that matter; a cold chill froze him for another second. He turned around. He saw nothing. Flippy took a deep breath and went inside. The house was dark. Flippy quickly scouted every room, but the porcupine wasn't hiding in the house. The war bear was about to relax before he remembered.

_Never let your guard down until the mission is over. Never. Or you will fail. _

He looked around until he spotted the door, installed right where the wooden stairway was. He knelt down and quickly unlocked the door. Putting his ear against the wood he tried to hear something, but it was too thick. He would have to open it.

Grabbing hold of the iron ring, he heaved, lifting it and then pushing it upwards from beneath. The door swung back but Flippy caught it by its second handle and slowly settled it against the floor. Quickly he went below.

It was hard to see in the gloom, but his eyes quickly adjusted using the small bit's of light. And the first thing Flippy saw was Sniffles's hanging form.

The anteater's eyes were wide, his mouth open, blood spilling from lips, pooling beneath his suspended form. Flippy was frozen. The Sniffles's eyes were rolled back, as if he'd been under intense pain. That blood… There was so much of it. A flicker of his past made Flippy choke. He tried to control himself. This really wasn't the time. Why should this be any different from all the other death's he's faced?

Flippy almost didn't notice Cuddles, who was calling the bear's name. He moved around Sniffles's dead body and went over to them. They were alive! Giggles, Cuddles, Petunia and Mime were here, as well as Lifty and Shifty. The Mole and Toothy were against a wall to his right. The beaver was looking extremely pained. Sounds were coming from two branching rooms. One sounded like grunts of pain while the other, wails of pure misery.

Petunia, Giggles, Cuddles and Toothy seemed to be floating in the air, wrists and knees clenched together as if bound. This confused Flippy, but Cuddles was yelling at him. "Flippy, get out, now!"

Flippy rose his eyebrows. "What? I'm here to save you. We have to get out…" He looked around. "How is she keeping you in the air like that?"

Giggles was tearing up. "Oh no. Flippy, go, NOW! You won't be able to save anyone if –"

Cuddles's eyes widened. "No! Flippy!"

But it was too late. Flippy felt his knees slowly sinking to the ground. He attempted to fight it but it was no use. What was happening? His arms were forced by invisible hands to fold behind his back. Flippy was defenseless as his face was shoved into the ground. And then he heard her voice.

"You know Flippy, you may be one of the only ones with sleeves, but you _aren't_ the only one with tricks."


	10. Chapter 9

**READ THIS!**

**I just want to say thank you to everyone who's read this story, who has followed it, and who has enjoyed it in its making. Special thanks to Addicting Candy, fog112 and Scarlet Pikachu for reviewing on nearly every one of my chapters. Another thanks goes to ATreeFriend14, who helped me out with some character choices that will be used for upcoming HTF fanfiction. **

**This is the last chapter guys! But don't worry, there will be an Epilogue. I hope you've all enjoyed reading my first Happy Tree Friends story. And I hope all of you will return for any other stories I plan on writing. I'd love to hear your opinions on the conclusion. **

**Thank you so much for putting up with me. The ending is a little weird in my opinion, but…**

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Flaky sneered down at the bear before her. One hand was settled on her hip. The other held a clay doll similar to Flippy in looks. Flaky clicked her tongue in disappointment. "Flippy, you're supposed to be the smart one. I was sure you'd catch wind of my plan instead of stumbling into it like a stupid mouse." Then she giggled. "Then again, it was a good plan."

Flippy decided to keep Flaky talking while he thought of a plan. It was a strategy Sneaky had pounded into the bear the first week of his training - when being held hostage you always keep the enemy talking. Time was life.

"How did you get behind me?" Flippy asked, looking angry and defeated. Flaky huffed. "It wasn't that complicated," she said, looking away for the slightest of moments. Flippy realized that that was the old Flaky acting. She was still in there. "I've been watching you," she continued, staring him down like the winner of a chess match. "Ever since I tricked Giggles and Petunia. I was almost completely sure you knew something about the idol, and expected that you'd try to keep an eye on me. Cuddles confirmed my suspicions - you tried to draw him away from my trail by telling him that I didn't know where the girls were."

"That wasn't what I asked," Flippy spat. He pretended to struggle briefly, but Flaky had a firm grip on the doll. "How did you know I was going to come here?"

"Because I've been watching you," she growled, not liking to have to repeat herself. "Ever since I duped Sniffles, I knew you'd be a problem. So I watched you the past three days. Today you made your move. You went to the hospital-tree to check on Sniffles. I was prepared with the doll and the key." Flaky laughed again. "It was so easy! I practically threw the key in your face; did you really expect that it would be so easy?"

"How..." Flippy paused. He had a sick feeling in his stomach. And it wasn't just from Flaky's confession. "How did you know I was headed here? You must have needed time to hide." But he already knew the answer. Flaky knew that too, and she pretended to look sympathetic. "Don't feel so bad Flippy. You didn't know that by slowly crushing the doll you'd be subjecting the real Sniffles to a parallel fate. I knew you couldn't resist messing with it, and that's why I left it there. I knew if something was happening to Sniffles that you'd taken the bait and were coming here to try and save the others."

"Where were you hiding?"

"In the trees," Flaky said simply. "You should be more paranoid. If you looked just a bit harder you might have been able to see me."

Flippy licked his lips. He had an idea, but it would require more information from Flaky. He looked around the cave and angrily said, "You can't have gotten all of us!" Flaky frowned and sighed. "Sadly, no, I wasn't able to get a hold of everyone. I couldn't find Lammy, though personally I don't have a grudge against her. Mr. Pickles though..."

"What about Lumpy? You said you were going to get him."

"I already have him." Flaky pointed a claw in the direction were the grunts of pain were coming from. "I couldn't think of a good torture for someone so stupid, so I just made it so he has to sit on a bed of heated metal while slowly hacking his leg off with a spoon. The spoon bit gave me a really bad feeling of déjà vu but its working."

"What about Russell?"

"Couldn't find him. He's voyaging again, I guess."

"Pop and Cub?"

Flaky scoffed. "I couldn't be bothered to waste energy on them. So I just dumped a dead dog carcass into their well water."

"Splendid?" Flaky outright laughed at that. "Seriously? Splendid? Do you even have to ask? I'm not going to mess with that hot-headed squirrel. Like I could even stand a chance against -"

"Help!" Flippy shouted loudly, cutting Flaky off and alerting the other friends. "Splendid, help! Help!" Then they realized what he was doing. Splendid never denied a call for help. He would be there in a few seconds. The others began to join his chant. Soon the entire cave was filled with the calls for help of the friends. Flaky stared before walking back to the other side of the room, beside the dolls.

Splendid appeared in a mirage of blue wind. He struck his hero pose - legs spread, arms on his waist, hands fisted, with the remaining wind blowing his cape majestically. The flying squirrel nodded before looking at Flippy, who had begun the calls. "It is I, Splendid, come to aid any and all of the needy Tree Friends. What seems to be the problem?" Flippy opened his mouth, but wasn't able to say anything. Flaky threw something at Splendid. The rope caught around the squirrel's neck, momentum from the throw bringing back the ends. It clenched his neck and restrained his lower torso. The two heavy metal weights at the ends fell to the ground. Flippy and the others expected Splendid to break from the bonds, for that weak attack should have done nothing. But the super powered Friend instead fell to his knees, coughing. "What is this? Why have my powers ceased to activate! I -" His sentence was lost in a barrage of sneezes. He sneezed so many times Flippy thought his nose might fly off. Which it did.

Flaky grinned evilly down at Splendid as the animal continued to sneeze and cough. "Sniffles was kind enough to show me a lovely cavern filled with pretty stones. And guess what that cavern happened to have? Nice, pretty Kryptonut. I ground it into dust and sprinkled it on the rope."

Flippy watched in horror as Flippy gripped the rope around Splendid's neck, lifting him up, and gave him four good slashes on each of his cheeks. She then made a point to kick him where it really hurt. The male Friend squealed in pain and allowed himself to be thrown down onto the ground. She turned back to Flippy.

"Oh, Flippy," she began, slowly walking towards him again. He realized things were going to get very messy very quick, and he needed to think of something. "It's not my fault that this is happening. It's yours. You shouldn't have pushed me. This stupid town shouldn't have pushed me." Flippy quickly reviewed over what he knew. Flaky was like this because she fell in a radioactive lake and burned to death. But she should have reset when she was Reborn. No status or anything should have followed her back. But as he thought about it more, Flippy realized that the waste might have been working on Flaky _while_ she was dying.

Maybe that was the loophole, the exception. Flaky's emotions had fused with the waste, and it bonded with her as she died. Because it happened _as_ she died, it canceled the reset, instead staying with her as she began the process of Rebirth.

If he wanted to get rid of this Flaky, he needed to kill her. And as he killed her he needed to rip the other Flaky away.

But he couldn't kill Flaky. He realized he had feelings for her. No matter how small or new they were, they were there. He couldn't bring himself to hurt her.

But his other half could.

Flippy looked around at the other friends. They'd been broken, beaten, and used. Some of them, like Sniffles and the raccoon twins and himself, wouldn't be wiped of these feelings or memories after Rebirth. The experience would stay with them forever. He couldn't massacre them. He needed to only attack Flaky. So how would he do that?

Flippy closed his eyes. The prisoners - Petunia, Cuddles, Giggles, Nutty, Toothy, Mole, Lumpy, Mime, Lifty and Shifty - they weren't his enemy. They were his friends. His comrades. Comrades that had been kidnapped and tortured by the opponent.

Flippy opened his eyes. He was no longer in a cave. He was in an underground room. His comrades were hanging by chains against steel walls. Most of them were bleeding.

His eyes turned to Flaky. Her scarlet eyes, her raising quills, her sharpened claws, that devilish grin spreading across her once cute and shy face. She wasn't his friend. She was the enemy. She worked for General Tiger. She had been sent to kill him. Flippy's vision turned dark. A wild frenzy of anger and perverse delight took hold of him. The old Flippy was fading away to watch.

Evil Flippy had taken control.

His eyes were green bands now, as green as Flaky's were red. He let out an evil laugh. All around him was war. Blood, sweat, death and hatred. Evil Flippy inhaled deeply. His kind of world.

This female before him. She'd gotten around his defenses, somehow. She was a true opponent. But she would have to die. Evil let out a hysterical laugh, slowly pulling a machete from the hidden pocket in his army jacket. He stared down Flaky, holding the end towards her. He would first aim for her throat. If that failed, her heart was the next target.

Flaky realized what was happening, but at the moment she didn't care. A kind of haze was clouding her judgment. This battle would be one to remember. And after she'd done away with Flippy, the others would continue to suffer. They would forever be her toys to play with, to mess with, and she would make their lives a living Hell, just as they'd made hers.

The two stared each other down. Evil saw an army enemy, and Flaky saw the dark side of one of her dear friends. They were each in different worlds. But they saw each other for what they were.

One saw a monster. The other saw a prisoner.

Evil lunged first, knife pointed. Flaky easily dodged him, but with a swing of the arm he caught her arm. She hissed as blood slowly dripped from the cut. Evil immediately attacked again, but Flaky knelt down. The blow missed, and Flaky grabbed hold of Evil's ankles, forcing him up and backwards. The bear lost his balance and Flaky followed by kicking him in the stomach.

Evil quickly regained his footing and looked around. Flaky had taken the chance to hide. The war bear grinned, teeth pointed and sharp, as he looked around for her. The watching Tree Friends were also looking around. "There she is!" Giggles shouted. She was looking towards the whiteboard that was still in front of Petunia. The skunk was getting over her obsession, but her lack of air freshener was taking it's tole on her smell.

Evil walked over, knife ready. But Flaky was prepared - she kicked one end of the whiteboard so that it swung sideways, hitting Evil in the face. She then hopped off and ran into the room Nutty was being kept. Evil growled, following her. A plate was thrown at his head. He used his knife to defend himself. The platter broke into dozens of pieces that fell to the ground.

Nutty was going wild. Flaky was holding the old, crusty, stale brownie in her hand. She crushed it in her fist and threw the crumbs at Evil. He sputtered as it got in his eyes. As he rubbed them clean he finally noticed that she was holding Nutty's doll in her hand. She was also closer to him. She punched him, quickly taking the machete and before he could get it back she drove the point of it down on the chains that held Nutty to the wall. It pierced through easily, driving itself into the ground.

Nutty went insane. He leaped on Evil, licking the bear's fur and biting his ears and clung to him so tightly that Evil found it hard to breath. He growled deeply and threw Nutty off of him, but the sugar deprived squirrel just ran back. The remaining line of chain kept around his neck trailed behind him. Evil moved out of the raging Friend's way and grabbed a hold of the chain. Then, swinging, he lifted Nutty from the ground and sent him flying at Flaky. The porcupine turned, allowing her quills to stop the flying Nutty. He looked like a pin cushion by the time Flaky ripped him from her back.

Flippy did a barrel roll and grabbed hold of his knife but Flaky was escaping again. She fled the side room and returned to the main one, running towards the voodoo dolls. Evil chased after her.

Flaky got a hold of Flippy's doll. She proceeded to crush it in her fist.

But nothing seemed to happen. Evil kept walking towards her, oblivious to her efforts to get rid of him. She blinked and looked down at the clay in her hand. Why hadn't it worked?

Then the tiny red bits of sand came out. This caused Evil to hesitate. Flaky noticed this and paid more attention. She thought about it. She'd put the idol's magic into the clay. It made sense that if she destroyed the dolls, then the power would seep back out in a solidified form.

Power... solidified...

Flaky grinned and glanced at Evil, who knew exactly what she was now planning. Inside, Flippy watched in horror as she began to quickly lick up the sand, squeezing the clay harder so that more would come out. He had to do something. _Now._

He charged. Dropping the machete, Evil grabbed hold of both of Flaky's wrists. He swung her around and threw her at a wall. She glared at him as she arched in the air, and then her quills drove into the dirt wall. Some of her quills drove through her own body from the force of the impact. She gasped and shuddered. Drops of blood fell from her mouth. Evil saw that one quill had just barely missed her heart. Two seemed to have punctured her right lung. Her breathing became irregular and painful.

"You..." she growled. Flaky's eyes were losing their light. "You always kill me. Always. Even when I..."

Evil was grinning at his work. Slowly the adrenalin rush was ending. Flippy was about to regain control again. But just as his eyes began to return to their regular black, Flaky let out a laugh. She inhaled deeply, oblivious to the busted lung and slowly, very slowly, pulled herself from the wall. Quills remained in her body, but she landed on her feet. Her eyes, still red, were burning brighter than ever before. "It's always been you Flippy, hurting me... now it's about time I got rid of you."

Flaky pulled one of the quills out of her stomach and expertly threw it at Evil like a dart. The bear moved out of the way. But the sand had made Flaky faster, stronger. She yanked more and threw them faster. Soon a rain of long sharp red quills was flying at Evil. He continued to dodge, jumping in the air and rolling on the floor, turning on his heel. Eventually he got to his knife again. Picking it up he used it to deflect the quills. They fell broken to the ground. Flaky held one in each hand. Running at him, the met, quill to blade.

Then began their fight of weapons. Flaky was on the offence with, Evil defending himself from her quick slashes and stabs. Once or twice Flaky managed to cut a wrist or cheek. They moved around the cave. The imprisoned Happy Tree Friends cheered for Flippy. But Flippy himself was only doing half of the work. Evil moved swiftly and hit hard. But Flippy was thinking of something, anything, which would get Flaky to realize what she was doing. This wasn't Flaky. It couldn't be.

A wide silver ark and Evil knocked both quills from Flaky's grasp. Laughing, he held the knife high above his head and quickly brought it down. The movement was easy and smooth, like an executioner with his ax.

But Flaky caught the blade in her hand. She grinned back at Evil. The blade dug into her palm as she tightened her grip and in one swift motion, Flaky delivered a low kick at the bear. He dodged, and Flaky gained possession of the machete. She threw it at the far wall and charged once again for her opponent.

Flaky punched and Evil caught it in his hand. The blood from her hand stained his own fur; Evil gripped her wrist and tried to throw her away again. Flaky maneuvered the throw and caught her footing again, now holding Evil's wrist. She pulled him closer and kneed him in the stomach, and as he doubled over she lifted her knee and hit him in the nose. The bear stumbled backwards but then punched Flaky in the face. She attempted to kick his side but he caught her foot and lifted it, causing her to fall backwards.

As Evil bent over her, ready to strangle the last breath from her, she caught his neck between her heels and threw him over her shoulder. He fell into the table where the dolls had been. Cuddles and Toothy fell from their invisible binds, the strings holding them up broken. Cuddles grunted from the fall but Toothy almost immediately headed for the other dolls.

Flaky growled and tackled the beaver, snapping her teeth onto his ear and ripping. Toothy shouted in pain and fell backwards in an attempt to get her off, but Flaky wrapped her arms around his neck, digging her claws into his throat. The Friend thrashed, but in seconds the life was driven from him. He soon lay still and Flaky kicked his body aside.

Evil sat up in the broken wood parts and saw the jar of ants at his side. The ants were jumping, pointing at Flaky. They looked angry. Evil picked up the jar and chucked it at Flaky. The female saw this and quickly ripped Toothy's tail off. Using it as a bat, she swung it at the flying jar, breaking it into tiny pieces. The shards fell everywhere, and the ants decided to take this opportunity to escape.

Cuddles was slowly edging towards Splendid, who was lying on the floor, dribbles of vomit running down his chin. The rabbit bent down and slowly began to untie the squirrel.

Flippy saw this and quickly decided what to do. He pointed behind Flaky and shouted, "He's trying to free Splendid!" A flash of fear ran though Flaky's eyes - a look that was familiar on her face - and the porcupine turned around and was outraged to discover that Flippy was right. She hissed, pulling out another one of her quills and scared Cuddles away from Splendid.

Flaky ripped the rest of the rope off of Splendid, and while the super powered squirrel was still weak drove the quill through his heart. Then she took the rope and pulled it behind her. Cuddles saw and backed away. But Flaky was faster. She swung, and the weight at the end of the rope bashed hard against Cuddles's skull, impaling it. The rabbit's body wavered and then fell to the ground. Giggles was crying in fear and sorrow.

Flippy had used this distraction to free Giggles and Petunia from their binds. They both fell to the ground, but Flaky wasn't paying them any attention. She wanted to finish off her prey. Flippy made a short gesture at the two of them to go free Lumpy, Mime, Lifty, Shifty and The Mole. The nodded to him and went to work as Flaky glared at him.

"Why do you have to do this?" Flippy asked, standing back up. A shard of wood had driven into his arm, but he left it where it was. Flaky spat blood at him. "I always die at the expense of these idiots," she answered, making a sweeping motion behind her. "I get killed and hurt every day of my life because they never learn."

"It isn't their fault."

"So? It doesn't change the fact that they drag me into their problems. I shouldn't die half as much as I do. I'm smart. I stay out of trouble. Yet I always get skinned or crushed or murdered."

"It never bothered you before."

Flaky shook her head. "SO! The fact of the matter is that you started this. For the reason I hate you, you gave me the reason. You killed me, Flippy; you overturned my car and made me dissolve in that lake. And as I was dying I realized that we didn't need to take this. We didn't have to die because of you. I wanted revenge. It took us until then to really want it..." She smirked at him. "I suppose we should thank you, Flippy. Without you, none of this could have been possible."

Flippy tilted his head, an eyebrow rose. "We? Us?"

Flaky blinked. And then she shook her head. "I mean I. Me. Not us."

"But you said us. As if... you weren't the same Flaky?"

Her eyes grew wide, and Flippy could just see the faintest bit of fight growing. "No. There aren't two. There's only one Flaky. Me. These are _my _feelings. This is how _I _feel."

"No, you don't Flaky. Maybe you did, and maybe in a way you still do, but you'd never want to do _this_."

"NO!" Flaky took a step back. "_I'm _Flaky. I want you to hurt like I did!"

"You don't want to do this Flaky!"

The Other Flaky snapped.

"**Yes she did**! She **wanted** this. Flaky knew she wanted all of this. The idea had come to her more than once. I wanted her to do it! But she was too kind, too timid, to shy and too feeble to do anything about it. She _wanted_ all of you to suffer. But she wouldn't do it herself. So I'm doing it for her.

"She kept telling herself that it wasn't your faults when it obviously was. She's different from you idiots - she's smart and has common sense. He's not just some... some..." The Other Flaky began to cry hot tears of frustration and hatred. "She isn't just some ugly, boring tom boy that everyone thinks she is. She has feelings!" The Other Flaky stomped her feet in anger. "And she _isn't_ a scardy cat! She's not a shy timid little weakling!"

The Other Flaky fell to her knees. Flippy watched as he slowly edged over to his knife. "You're Flaky's Anger. You're all of the emotions that she kept locked up inside of her, for the sake of her friends. But you aren't Flaky."

"Yes I am!" The Other Flaky stood and clenched her temple. "I am Flaky! I'm what makes her **strong**! Without me she would be **nothing**! I **AM** FLAKY!"

"No!" Flaky was breaking through. Flippy was amazed to see another arm sprouting from the Other Flaky. "You aren't me! You don't make me strong! I don't need feelings like you!"

Another head split from the first. Two Flaky's were glaring at each other. One with hating, fiery scarlet eyes. The other with soft, determined, pac-man shaped pupils. "You **need** me!"

"No I don't!"

"You're **nothing** without me!"

"_You're_ the one who wouldn't be anything without _me_!"

"He doesn't care about you! No one does! **They** **need to be punished**!"

"It isn't their fault. And they do care!" The real Flaky was breaking getting an edge. "And even if they don't I don't need their acceptance or revenge to make me feel better about myself!"

Flippy grabbed a hold of the machete. And before either the real or fake Flaky could say anything, he drove the knife into their joined chest. The Other Flaky screeched in anger. But the real Flaky just looked up at Flippy. Her eyes were teary, but thankful. "Flippy..."

"**No**," protested the Other Flaky. Her fur was beginning to lose its color. "**Don't**!"

"Flippy... I forgive you. For everything. And I'm sorry I did this to all of you."

"**I hate you**!" The Other Flaky screamed over and over, "**I hate you. All of you**!" The real Flaky looked pained. She avoided Flippy's gaze. He slowly pulled the knife from their chest, pulling the heart out with it. "It's alright Flaky. I'm not angry at you."

Flaky looked so relieved that it made Flippy relax. And slowly, very slowly, the Other Flaky began to disappear. She was growling, crying, and screaming as she did so. But Flaky only allowed herself a small smile. Soon only her body was left. She'd not only forgiven Flippy and the others, but she'd forgiven herself.

Flaky's body fell to the ground. Flippy knelt down beside her. Gently, he closed her eyes. The idol's power had been the last push in separating Flaky from her emotions.

Flippy looked up to see the others standing around. They looked lost, and even fearful, as if Flaky's body would snap back up to destroy them all.

They all stayed there. And then, one by one, the Happy Tree Friends left. Flippy knew that most of them would put this behind them. To the younger ones this would only become a hazy, broken up memory. But to others, like Sniffles and Flippy and Flaky herself, this experience would live with them forever.


	11. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Picking Up Pieces**

She lay in bed, beneath her floral sheets, but she did not go to sleep. She wriggled, tosing and turning, but the porcupine was unable to relax. What had she done? This was probably the worst thing that's happened to her so far. And she knew there would be no real fixing.

She needed to talk to someone.

_I really need to talk with you..._

That morning, when she'd woken up in the hospital tree, there had been no one to welcome her back. Not Flippy, not Giggles or Petunia. And not Sniffles. She didn't even see him as she walked out of the tree. Flaky tried to keep away from the busy town. She cut through the trees to get back to her house. Unfortunetly, Mime and Toothy had been hiking and she'd caught sight of them. The second they saw her they screamed and ran off. It hurt Flaky. They hadn't died, so the torture and pain was still fresh on their minds.

_I keep stepping on the vain that keeps my lifeline flowing through_

_I wanna be your perfect stick of glue..._

Flaky approached her house, a hole growing deep inside of her. She wanted to blame it on her Other side, on her anger. But she knew she couldn't. Because Flaky knew, and everyone else knew, that before the point when she ate the idol's power, it had been her all the way. The Anger and Revenge had only pushed her along. The Tree Friend's bottom lip quivered. Would her friends ever forgive her? How could they?

_But I don't feel perfect at all_

_Sad and insecure flaw_

_Yeah..._

Later that day Petunia and Giggles came over. Flaky didn't want to talk, but they seemed anxious to see her. Petunia was staring at her with suspicious eyes, but Giggles, though she hadn't died since the incident, seemed happy to see Flaky back to normal. She hugged her friend and told her that it was alright, and that she and Petunia had decided to forgive her.

Something seemed different about Giggles. She was standing up straighter, kept her smiling to a minimum, and barely giggled during their visit. Flaky wondered if it was - dispite her kind words - still because she was afraid. But maybe the chipmunk was just growing up. Perhaps she was more mature than the others thought her to be.

The visit was short. Petunia and Giggles kept trying to cheer Flaky up, but the porcupine didn't know what to say at all. She kept choking on her words, stuttering, and whenever they tried to change the subject a little bit of her was pained. They were trying so hard. But it just wasn't going to work.

_I find it hard to hold conversations_

_I get sweaty sick and I wanna walk away_

_Naw, it's not you, it's strickly me in this situation_

She bid them both a farewell and watched them as they left the small clearing. Flaky leaned against the doorway, listening to the soft sputtering of the lake running behind her.

_But I'm wondering if it'll ever go away?_

Flaky closed the door and turned away to face the rest of this lonely day.

_Just go away..._

_Stop_

Flaky sat up in bed. She decided to give up on sleeping, since it wasn't going to happen. The throbbing in her chest was too much. She'd hurt all of her friends, and it had given her pleasure. Flaky... she thought she'd forgiven herself. At the time, as Flippy was pulling the knife from her chest, Flaky had felt so content, so at peace with herself. It was as if all of the worries and consequences for her actions didn't exist. But now Flaky realized just how much things were going to have to change.

_Sometimes I feel like weeping_

_Awake and when I'm sleeping_

_Perfecting how to put a game face on_

_And this puzzle I've been keeping_

_has been in hiding, creeping out the closet door_

_spilling out onto the floor_

_How long will I be picking up pieces?_

Flaky stepped out of bed and grabbed a sweater. Pulling it on, she walked towards the front door. But she stopped as she spotted something lying on the floor. Bending over, she realize that it was a clay doll of herself. When had she made this? She didn't remember making it along with all of the others. She looked at it in the gloom. It wasn' soft, and it didn't give off the pulses of power like the others did. Maybe she'd made this from the first batch of clay, the one that she hadn't mixed the powder with.

The tiny Flaky was smiling shyling, hands in front of her, rubbing against each other in worry. Her spikes were down. Her eyes were looking down at her feet, which were rubbing against each other in nervousness. As Flaky held this little doll in her hands, she ran a finger across the face. It was so smooth, so worried, so shy.

But Flaky knew her face would never look like that. Not anymore.

_How long will I be picking up my heart?_

Flaky left the stump and made her way through the woods. It was dark and very cold. Autumn leaves crunched beneath her footfalls; the sound and smells around her were pleasent. When Flaky was bent on revenge, she hadn't noticed how all of the leaves were changing their colors. She always liked fall. It was her favorite season.

The wind made her quills shudder. Flaky pulled her sweater closer, shoving her hands into the pockets. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but she allowed her body to take control and lead while she thought. There was indeed too much to think about. Flaky needed to get through this time, to learn to live with her new self. It had only been a few weeks, but Flaky was a completely different person now. In a way it was good. Though her anger had led her, it had also shown her how much of a person Flaky was capable of being. Flaky knew what it was like to be confident, and outgoing. Flaky had enjoyed the short time of power she felt. It made her feel good knowing that she was capable of that.

Flaky looked up. She was out of the forest now, at the edge of the border. Before her was a large overhanging that looked beyond Happy Tree Valley. You could see everything for miles, all of the things that you'd never see here. It was one of Flaky's favorite places to be when she was lonely or needed to think.

But the cliff was already occupied. Flaky hid behind a tree. She coudn't tell who it was, becaus the light of the moon reduced them to a silhouette. She sighed. Maybe she should just turn back. She didn't want to disturb anyone. Flaky looked around the tree, trying to get a closer look. She then realized she recognized them. Flaky sighed, taking a deep breath and headed towards him.

"Hey..."

_Listen..._

Flippy didn't look, but greeted her back. "Hi Flaky. Isn't it a little late for a walk?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"True."

"So..."

"How are things going?"

Flaky lifted her eyes from the rocky ground and looked over to Flippy. The bear was looking away from her. The porcupine thought it was because he didn't want to look at her. She sighed, lip quivering, and kicked a rock off of the cliff. "Nothing much..."

In reality it was because he was hiding his blush. "Oh. I... Sorry I had to kill you. But you know..."

"It's alright. I'm not angry at you; thank you for doing it. I was really getting tired of hearing myself talk." Flippy chuckled and looked back at the female beside him. He'd never realized how pretty Flaky was. Everything about her, from her face to her danduff just seemed to fit. Nothing about her was mismatched. And the way her fur caught the moonlight - ah, just beautiful.

Flippy sighed. He sounded like a lovesick puppy. This must be how Cuddles feels around Giggles.

Flippy noticed Flaky's sad face. He took a step closer. "Flaky, are you okay with how this ended?" Flaky looked up at the bear and found refuge in his eyes. She felt she could trust him.

_I'll be as honest as I feel_

_I feel like I'm getting more paranoid, 'cause I'm hearing things_

_and they never turn out real_

Flaky shrugged, letting her gaze sweep over the scenery before them. Trees, mountains, billions of stars. Yet it didn't do anything to cheer her up. "Sniffles hates me," she muttered. "I know he does. The others won't come near me. Giggles said she forgave me, but..." Flaky's eyes were swelling with tears she'd been trying to keep away. "It just feels so icky, you know? I hurt my friends and I killed a few of them, and... I just feel horrible. I'd forgiven myself for being angry but... I don't think I've gotten over what I did. Maybe I never will..."

_It feels like my heart is made of pure steel_

_It's just so heavy all the time_

"Flaky, what was life like before you found Happy Tree Valley?" Flaky looked up at the unexpected question. Flippy was staring out at the mountains, his jacket hovering against the breeze. Flaky took a moment to think over his question. Wiping away the tears, she muttered, "I was really young when I first came to the valley. I'd been seperated from my parents. I used to live in this forest area, like kind of like the valley. My parents were nice, but I don't remember them very much. Why?"

"No reason." They stood in silence. Then Flaky said, not wanting to stop speaking, "I think I did it because I was annoyed at dying all of the time. It still terrifies me, even though I know we get Reborn. But it still hurts, and I remember the pain."

Flippy looked at her sadly. Flaky died a lot - Flippy was one of the only friends who didn't die almost every day. He just did most of the killing. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"It's not your fault. I just don't like it; I guess I got fed up with dying and decided to make it stop."

_I'm scared of death_

_I'm scared of living_

_Shit..._

_I gave up on the past 'cause it's unforgiving_

"I thought Sniffles would understand," Flaky continued. "But I guess I pushed him too much. I mean..." Flippy shifted his feet so that he faced the porcupine. "What?"

"It's just, I never knew that he liked me. Ever. I wonder how I never noticed. But when I'd changed, I saw his affection almost immediately. And the first thought that came to my mind was 'I can use this'. I feel awful! How could I have screwed up so badly..." Flippy was frowning. He looked away and muttered, "So, you like Sniffles back?"

Flaky blinked in surprise. "I... No, not really, I don't think. I've always thought of Sniffles as just a friend. I mean, he's really nice and smart, but I just don't think it'd work out between us.

She didn't see Flippy's shoulders relax. "But I still feel awful for using him," Flaky said. She sighed. "I lost a lot of people's trust because of my anger."

_I misplaced my trust_

_I watch my word begin to rust_

_I'm that balloon about to bust_

_I need a place for reliving_

_Still..._

The tears were flowing now. Flaky didn't know what to say to make them stop. She allowed herself to cry, holding her head in her hands. She tried to do it as quietly as possible, but the sobs came in surprising bursts. She never thought she could hurt this much. She felt like a total contradiction of the Flaky that had destroyed that anger. She missed her friends, and it hurt to have their backs facing her now.

Flippy watched, concern and unease lining his face. The female before him was crying. He didn't know how to deal with that. Hesitantly he held up his hands, thought better of it, and then groaned in awkwardness before letting his arms wrap around Flaky's small frame.

_Sometimes I feel like weeping_

_Awake and when I'm sleeping_

_perfecting how to put a game face on_

_And this puzzle I've been keeping_

_has been in hiding, creeping out the closet door_

_spilling out onto the floor_

_How long will I be picking up the pieces? _

_How long will I be picking up my heart? _

Flaky allowed herself to be held. She wrapped her own arms around Flippy's stomach and cried in his chest. Flippy, who was very uncomfortable with the situation but felt he owed it to her, simply patted her back in reassurance. He stroked her quills, which felt surprisingly like hair at the moment.

_How long (in another space and time)_

_Keep picking up pieces (in the corner of my mind)_

Eventually Flaky settled down, but the two Friends stayed in each others arms, appreciating the warmth and comfort they gave. The silence was no longer strained or awkward, but calm and nice. Flaky rubbed her face off with a sleeve. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cry all over you."

Flippy looked down at the girl in his arms and felt his face heat up again. He wanted to let go, but his body wouldn't let him. "Don't be. It's fine."

"Have you ever thought of leaving the valley?"

_How long (getting oh so hard to find)_

_Keep picking up pieces (in the corner of my mind)_

Flippy thought about it and then shrugged. "A few times. But I think I'd miss everyone." Flaky smiled and said, "Yeah, me too. Dying isn't nice, but..." She looked out again and then behind them, back towards the town where everyone was sleeping. "Having friends like them makes it almost not so bad, even if they are the one's who kill me. If I didn't like anyone here I would have left a long time ago."

"Don't go..."

Flaky looked up in surprise. "What?" Flippy looked away. He moved further back, but his arm was still around her shoulders. Flaky yawned. "I'm tired." She paused, and then grabbed onto Flippy's paw. The green bear blushed once again. Flaky smiled. "Will you walk me back Flippy?"

"I - uh... sure. Yeah."

"Thank you." Flaky pulled him along, back towards the forest. "Your welcome," Flippy said, allowing himself to follow closely behind.

_But I still walk on... _


End file.
